Easy Umbrian Involtini

We recently had the honor of hosting two of our terrific nieces who were visiting town. We had previously enjoyed a wonderful trip to Umbria and Tuscany with one of them. So I decided to prepare a meal with Tuscan and Umbrian dishes and wine. 

The main dish dish I chose was involtini, which means, "small bites of food." (The singular is involtino.) The dish consists of an outer layer of food wrapped around an inner layer. It is very similar to a roulade. There are many types of involtini. The outer layers are normally,veal, steak, pork, chicken, or eggplant. There are also many types of stuffing.

I chose the Umbrian involtini because the niece who visited Italy with us had involtini for lunch at the wonderful Locanda del Cantiniere in Gubbio, Umbria. (The involtini there was a different recipe.)

This one is very easy to make. 

The entire menu for the evening included:
- a large antipasto selection, with several Tuscan pecorino cheeses, several types of salame, roasted red peppers, marinated mushrooms, and artichoke hearts, with crostini. (Only the crostini were made by me) 
- an assortment of fresh ravioli from Mazzaro's Italian market.
- involtini
- salad
- a Florentine schiacatta cake, baked by me

I chose the Tuscan pecorinos, including one from Pienza, because we and our niece had enjoyed an incredible plate of assorted pecorinos at the cozy La Buca di Enea in Pienza. Pienza is famous for its pecorinos. (Pecorino simply means sheep cheese. Tuscany has many types of pecorinos. Unlike the pecorino Romano, which is used for grating, these cheeses are not meant to be grated.)

The red wines were both from the Vecchia Cantina winery in Montepulciano - a Cantina Redi Rosso di Montepulciano, and a Vecchia Cantina Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. I chose these wines because our niece had joined us on a visit to the Vecchia Cantina winery.

This recipe is from Mary Ann Espositio's 2002 book, "Ciao Italia in Umbria," and can be found at: http://www.ciaoitalia.com/seasons/recipes/meat-rolls-stuffed-with-ham-and-herbs-2.

The recipe serves four.

Ingredients

- 8 thin veal, pork, or chicken slices cut for scaloppine
- 8 thin slices of prosciutto
- 2 tablespoons of finely crushed juniper berries. Crush them with a mortar and pestle. (I found the berries at Mazzaro's.)
- 8 whole sage leaves
- Grinding of black pepper
- Fine sea salt to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup of Montefalco Rosso or other red wine. (Montefalco is a town in Umbria. Nice red wine is produced there.)

A note about the meat: I used thin slices of sirloin tip steak. Since they were of different thicknesses and not as thin as scaloppine, they took a few minutes longer took cook than the recipe states. It was a challenge to get pieces of the same size because I was serving 10 people.

Directions

Rolling involtini is very simple. You can find YouTube videos showing how it is done.

1. Lay the meat pieces out flat. Top each one with a slice of prosciutto, a little of the crushed juniper berries, a sage leaf, a grinding of pepper, and a sprinkling of salt. Roll each piece to form a little bundle. Tie each with kitchen string or secure it by pushing a toothpick through. I used toothpicks. 

2. Put the involtini into a baking dish in a single layer.

3. Preheat the oven to 350°F

4. Brush the involtini with olive oil. Bake them for 5 minutes, then pour in the wine and continue baking for an additional 7 minutes, basting the bundles occasionally with the wine. Check with a meat thermometer to ensure that the involtini are cooked to the proper temperature.

5. Serve hot.