GLUTEN-FREE STUFFED ROAST VEAL
A birthday celebration, a lovely shoulder of veal and some Italian gluten-free pork and fennel sausages in the butcher’s window and our Stuffed Roast Veal was on the way.
Stuffing our boned shoulder of veal with Italian sausage and some other tasty additions and roasting it slowly for several hours resulted in a very flavourful main course to feed a crowd.
If you’re not keen on stuffing and rolling your own veal, just take your stuffing ingredients up to your friendly butcher and he’ll do it for you.
We served it with Taleggio Polenta squares tossed in olive oil and roasted in a hot oven and Italian flat beans and a crisp green salad. However, roast potatoes and any sort of green veg or salad will be just as delicious.
Rosie
STUFFED ROAST VEAL
Serves 10-12
For the Stock (optional)
Veal bones from the shoulder (see below)
150 gm ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 leek, trimmed, washed and roughly chopped
1 carrot, washed and roughly chopped
1 stick celery, washed and roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
Preheat oven to 180°C FF (200°C conventional). Place all ingredients in a large roasting pan and roast until all ingredients are nicely coloured – around 40-50 minutes.
Transfer the contents of the pan into a large saucepan and cover with 4 litres of water. Bring to a simmer. Partially cover and simmer for 3-4 hours until the liquid has reduced by one third and has a delicious flavour.
Strain and reserve.
This step is optional. Use 1 litre purchased veal stock as a time saving alternative.
For the Veal
2 bunches English spinach
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek, trimmed, washed and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
Large pinch chilli flakes, optional
3 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
3.5 kg shoulder of veal, boned, to yield approximately 2.5kg, bones reserved for stock
400 gm Italian pork and fennel sausages, skins removed
Butchers’ twine for tying
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard or to taste, to finish the sauce
Blanch the English spinach in boiling water, drain and when cool enough to handle, squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Roughly chop.
Heat olive oil in a frying pan and add the leek, garlic and chilli flakes if using. Sauté until the leek has softened and is taking on a slight colour. Add the chopped spinach and the mustard and mix well. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely before stuffing the veal.
Place the boned veal shoulder flat on a board with the long edge facing you.
Slice horizontally through any thick pieces of meat and open them up like a book and you should achieve an even, flattish piece of meat. Make diagonal slashes across the surface of meat in both directions making sure you don’t cut all the way through.
Spread the spinach mixture over the surface of the meat, pressing it well into the slashes.
Place the sausage meat lengthways down the centre of the veal. Roll the veal, starting with the edge closest to you ending up with the join facing down. Secure firmly with 6-8 pieces of butchers’ twine.
This can be prepared ahead and stored in the fridge overnight. Remove from the fridge one hour before baking.
Preheat the oven to 130°C.
When ready to bake, place the veal roll in a large baking pan and pour the reserved or purchased stock over. Place a piece of baking paper directly on top of the veal and cover with a tightly fitting lid or foil and bake for 2 hours, turn, and cook for a further 2 hours.
Remove from oven and allow to stand until cooled enough to handle then transfer to a platter and keep warm.
Strain the pan juices into a saucepan. Simmer until reduced to taste. Add the two tablespoons of wholegrain mustard (or more or less to taste), season to taste.
Remove the butchers’ twine and slice the meat into thickish slices. Drizzle some of the sauce over the meat and serve the remaining sauce separately.
This dish can be baked off the day before and meat and sauce stored in the fridge overnight.
When ready to serve, remove the butchers’ twine and slice the meat while it is still cold. Transfer to a serving platter, drizzle with some of the sauce, cover with baking paper and foil and gently reheat in the oven.
Reheat the sauce and serve.
We served our Stuffed Roast Veal with a double recipe of our Taleggio Polenta, steamed Italian flat beans topped with balsamic roasted cherry tomatoes and a crisp green salad. However, roast potatoes and any sort of green veg or salad will be just as delicious.