Fancy a barbecue? Choose the “involtini alla messinese”

Published by thesiciliancuisineblog at maggio 15, 2016

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Do you know how to make very easy beef skewers in Messina style? Well… let’s go back for one second…

If you have ever lived in Sicily at some point in your life you know that from the end of April/beginning of May until October, sometimes even November, the weather is gonna be sunny and warm, days are longer and there is nothing you love more than spending time in your house by the sea or in the countryside, preparing a lovely barbecue.

Who doesn’t love that smell of food cooked on the big grill in open air?!

When I was a child we used to go to our country house in the hills surrounding a village called Carini and I used to go on my swing and observing my father starting the fire for the barbecue with “engineer” precision. I used to look for little wooden sticks to burn, so that I could say I had actually helped him making the barbie. Then, when my soft and juicy breadcrumbed beef steak was ready I would eat it with such happiness and pleasure, tasting every bit of it. No meat has ever tasted as good as that.

Another amazing recipe you can have in a barbecue is the “involtini alla messinese”, which literally means beef skewers in “Messina style”. They are so easy to make and so tasty, and especially if cooked on a grill they emanate that incredible smokey smell, making you want more and more!
My mum does her personal version of them, but is not too far from the original.

Ingredients for 4 people:

500 gr veal cutlets (very thin and tiny)

200 gr very tasty local matured cheese (normally provola piccante or caciocavallo)
100 gr grated local caciocavallo

300 gr breadcrumb

salt & pepper

e.v. olive oil

Parsley thinly chopped and a clove of garlic (in the original recipe but not in my mum’s)

My mum also adds some green olives and pine nuts in the breadcrumb mix, as you can see in the pic here on the left.

Best way to explain how to make those tiny rolls a quick video is better than a thousand words. Have a look here!

Serve them with whatever side dish you like, I personally made a mix of normal and sweet potatoes baked in the oven. Delicious!!!

Cooking time: On the barbecue is around 3 minutes per side so between 5 for both.

If you are indoor and still want to prepare them, there is no reason why you shouldn‘t do it.

Place them on a baking tray in the oven for 10 minutes at a temperature of 180° degrees. Check after 7-8 minutes, if almost cooked then add some red wine on the meat and leave it in the oven for the remaining 2 minutes. That would give an extra delicate flavor to the dish!