A serving of bruccialuna with angel hair pasta sits on a table at Tana on Metairie Road Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024.

I remember making bruccialuna with my Nana. My mother made it too, but it was always best at Nana's house.

Nana was directly from Palermo, and her food was legendary -- not only in the family, but also in the Sicilian community in New Orleans. At large gatherings of Sicilians, I was always asked if I could cook as well as my Nana, even when I was 7 years old.

Although we didn't go to Creole Italian restaurants when I was a child -- the food was so much better at home -- I came to order bruccialuna in Creole Italian restaurants when I visited them as an adult.

And it seems that others of Sicilian descent in and around New Orleans did the same. But places that still serve bruccialuna are few and far between.

What is bruccialuna?

Bruccialuna is the Sicilian name for the Italian dish known as braciola. It is a rolled steak or other meat, often stuffed with breadcrumbs and cheese, and cooked in tomato sauce. The Sicilian dish can be found spelled in several different ways, including bruscial, bruscialone and bruscialoni.

It was a dish made at home, but familiar and found on the menus of Creole Italian places around the city.

Searching for a real New Orleans bruccialuna, I spent some time in the kitchen at Tana restaurant watching chef Michael Gulotta at work. He's planning to make the dish available on Wednesdays as a special.

It was delightful to swap recipes and reminiscences of childhood slices of bruccialuna with Gulotta.

Gulotta used housemade breadcrumbs and a long-cooked sauce. His bruccialuna is served with housemade fresh pasta. It's a hearty dish and just the thing for a cold night. And the flavor hits all the notes of nostalgia for me.

I wrote about bruccialuna in my book, "Nana's Creole Italian Table." It is definitely a Sunday family meal. And because it makes a lot, I suggest adding a few friends.

If you have never had bruccialuna, you can try it on a Wednesday at Tana, where the dish is being perfected.

When you make it at home, serve it with fresh pasta and your richest tomato sauce.

Bruccialuna would be at home on any holiday table, to celebrate a birthday or anniversary or a graduation. Make your own breadcrumbs, and use good cheese. A good red wine would enhance the flavors. Your stomach and everybody else's will be happy.

Michael Gulotta's Bruccialuna

RED GRAVY

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 red bell pepper, diced

4 cloves garlic, smashed

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 28-ounce cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed

1 smoked pork hock

1 large sprig basil

1 orange, halved

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is deeply caramelized and dark in color.

2. Add the red wine vinegar and use your spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

3. Add the tomatoes, pork hock, basil, orange, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Increase the heat until it comes to an active simmer, then decrease the heat to low and let simmer for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Shred the meat from the pork hock into the gravy, discarding the bone along with the orange halves.

FILLING

4 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled

1 head garlic, roasted

1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

10 chives, thinly sliced

Kosher salt to taste

1 pinch Aleppo pepper or crushed red pepper flakes

1. Cut the hard-boiled eggs into eighths.

2. Add to a bowl and squeeze in the cloves from a head of roasted garlic. Gently toss with breadcrumbs, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, chives, Aleppo pepper and salt until combined. Set aside.

BRUCCIALUNA

2 pounds beef chuck flap

1 batch of egg filling

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 batch of red gravy

1/2 cup olive oil

Angel hair pasta for serving

1. To make the bruccialuna, butterfly the beef chuck flap lengthwise. (Cut through the center, as you would slice a bagel, but don't cut all the way through; then, separate the two halves as if you were opening a book. You should have one wider, thinner cut piece of meat.)

2. Cover the beef with plastic wrap and lightly pound it until it's about 1 inch thick. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

3. Working parallel with the grain of the meat, spread the egg filling down the length of it, about a third of the way from the bottom (leaving a roughly 2-inch border).

4. Carefully roll up the meat, keeping the filling tight. Use butcher's twine to tie it off at 2-inch intervals, trimming any excess twine. Season the outside with the remaining salt and pepper.

5. In a braising pan or crock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat just until it starts to smoke. Sear the bruccialuna on all sides, about 2 minutes per side, until golden brown and caramelized.

6. Pour the red gravy into the pan, bring it to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Let simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

7. Use tongs to carefully remove the bruccialuna from the pan. Let it rest on your cutting board for a few minutes, then cut into 1-inch slices and serve with angel hair pasta, topped with the gravy from the pan. Garnish with freshly grated cheese.

Artichoke salad

Serves 6.

Head romaine lettuce, leaves separated, washed, and spun dry

1/2 cup pitted black olives

1 cup slices fresh mushrooms

1 red bell pepper, sliced

10 fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded

1 11- or 12-ounce jar of marinated artichoke quarters, drained

1. Place all of the ingredients into a large salad bowl. Pour dressing over the salad. Toss and serve.

DRESSING

1/2 cup good olive oil

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons prepared pesto

1. Mix all of the ingredients into a jar. Replace the lid. Shake well and pour over the salad just before serving. Toss well.

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