Braciole and Vino: Turning SAD into GLAD

The answer: Comfort food and hearty wine! But what's the question? What do you need to ward off that psychological malady brought on by gray skies, cold weather, a general lack of sunshine and the end of football season?

Clinically known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), Doctor Feelgood -- me -- has just the prescription: Braciole or Italian beef roll-ups with penne in a thick tomato sauce. This past weekend, after preparing and then consuming this dish (with a full bodied red I’ll tell you about later), my outlook on the week ahead was definitely brighter.

So, here’s what I put together that should feed four to six hungry and depressed friends.

Tomato Sauce Recipe 1. First, the sauce. Here’s one of my favorite quick red sauce recipes. You’ll need: 3 ounces of extra virgin olive oil 1 large onion, chopped 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1 red pepper chopped 1 carrot, chopped 2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (try San Marana or Red Pack) Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat and add onion and garlic and sauté until soft.

3. Add the pepper and carrot and season with salt and pepper. Cook until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.

4. Add tomatoes, basil and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for about one hour or until the sauce is thick.

Now, to the wine. Open a bottle (red or white), take a break and have a glass – hey, this ain’t KP, enjoy yourself! While the sauce is cooking and you’re sipping, you can begin preparing the Braciole. (Incidentally, I went to my local butcher -- Johnnie’s at the Capitol Market-- selected a two-pound rump roast and asked them to slice the meat into quarter- inch pieces.

Braciole Recipe 1. Place each piece of meat between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound them to about 1/8 inch thickness. (You don’t want to do this if you have a hangover). If you don’t have a meat pounder, you can use a heavy iron skillet (or a clothes iron if your spouse isn’t looking).

2. Rub a combination of black pepper, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, minced garlic and olive oil into each piece of meat and dust them with flour.

3. Now you’ll need to prepare the stuffing for the roll-ups. Into a sauté pan, put about an ounce of extra virgin olive oil and cook one-half diced onion, one diced red bell pepper and a handful of chopped Italian flat parsley. Sauté the ingredients for about three minutes and set aside in a bowl to cool off. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Once the mixture is cool, put in 2/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano and 1/2 cup grated provolone along with 1/2 cup of bread crumbs then break one egg into the stuffing and mix together.

5. Onto the pounded meat, place a piece of thinly sliced prosciutto (or regular ham, if you prefer) and spread the stuffing evenly across the meat. Roll each piece of meat and then use toothpicks to keep the rolls from falling apart.

6. Into a skillet pour about two ounces of extra virgin olive oil, brown each piece of meat on all sides and then place them into a dutch oven, casserole or other pan with a cover that can accommodate all of them.

7. Take about 2 ounces of red wine and deglaze the skillet and pour the resulting mixture into the pot with the Braciole. Then pour the tomato sauce into the pot, cover, place in the oven and cook for about one and one-half hours (turning the meat once about halfway through the cooking process).

8. About 20 minutes before serving, boil one-pound of ziti or penne pasta until al dente.

9. Take the Braciole from pot, remove the toothpicks and slice the meat into one-half inch rounds, spooning red sauce over each piece. Add the pasta to the red sauce in the pan and serve with the meat. WINE RECOMMENDATION: I have the perfect wine for this meal. The 2005 A-Mano Primitivo ($13) from Puglia in southern Italy is a deep purple, fruit-forward wine with characteristics of zinfandel. Rich and full of blackberry flavors with a nice balancing acidity, this wine is a great match for the Braciole. Enjoy!