German beef rouladen with red wine sauce

Ingredients

• 4 thin slices of beef, about 150g each, for making roasts (from the center of the cut)
• salt, pepper
• 3 tablespoons of mustard
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 large onions
• 4 slices of smoked bacon
• 4 small gherkins
• 200 g of mixed ground meat (optional)
• flour
• 2 tablespoons of clarified butter or oil
• One large carrot
• One piece of celeriac
• 1 teaspoon of whole peppercorns
• One bay leaf
• 2 cloves of cloves
• 3 Scotch bonnet peppers from Jamaica
• 500 ml of beef broth
• 250 ml of red wine
• a little cream or crème fraîche
• 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of flour (optional)

Lay the beef slices out, season them with salt and pepper, and then spread a mixture of mustard and half of the tomato paste over each slice.

Slice the onion thinly and arrange it along with the bacon.

Place a pickle at the end of each slice and roll the meat around, folding in the sides (or sprinkle with diced pickles and roll around a ball of ground meat).

Secure the rolls with toothpicks, skewers, or string, then lightly dust them with flour.

Chop the carrot, celery, and the second onion into small dice.

In a frying pan, brown the rolls on all sides in the hot fat, then set them aside.

Roast the vegetables with the remaining tomato concentrate until they are softened and slightly caramelized, without burning. Deglaze with half of the wine and add the spices; reduce until almost dry.

Place the rolls back on top of the vegetables and pour in the broth, almost to the top.

Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, over medium heat on the stovetop or in the oven for 1 hour, turning once.

Open the lid and continue cooking for 1 hour, stirring occasionally and adding more wine if needed: the sauce should reduce.

Remove the rolls and keep them warm.

Pour the sauce through a sieve, mashing the vegetables, then add a little cream, and if necessary, thicken with a brown roux (melted butter and flour, loosened with cold water or wine), and then simmer for a few minutes.

Serve the rolls, generously drizzled with sauce.