The impressive looking Spiedini not only looks good, but it’s packed with flavor. One thing I like is that this can easily be prepared ahead of time and only takes 20 minutes in the oven, but could also be cooked on the grill or in a shallow pan on the stovetop. These beef kabobs are so easy to customize for each person you are feeding.
Spiedini is Italian and literally just means skewers. These Italian kabobs are scrumptious looking and can be customized to your taste easily. Some ideas you can add are peppers, squash, tomatoes, bay leaves, or mushrooms. You can add sausage or use chicken instead of beef. What about adding mozzarella sticks inside? Yum! I enjoy brown gravy with mine, while my husband prefers his with mustard.
I served these up with some crack green beans and stewed potatoes for a delicious and filling meal.
CAN I PREPARE THESE AHEAD OF TIME? Absolutely, you can. Simply follow the steps but stop before breading them. Prepare everything as you would until you get them rolled up. Now place the rolls in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days days prior to making them. Remove them from the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes before breading and baking them.
INGREDIENTS IMAGE
INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE SPIEDINI
Besides the beef eye of round, there are only a few simple ingredients necessary to create this magnificent Spiedini.
BEEF EYE OF ROUND Beef eye of round (rump or fillet steak) is the meat used to make the Spiedini rolls. Many people slice the meat into strips around 2 inches by 4 inches, but I didn’t feel the need. We were not feeding a crowd so I left them whole.
SALT & PEPPER Salt and pepper are used to season the food to your preferance.
EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL I chose to use Olive oil to sauté the onions and to coat the beef rolls so the breading would stick to them. You could always use melted butter as well.
YELLOW ONION I prefer the taste of yellow onions, so that is what I opted for adding to the Spiedini filling.
WATER Water is just used to soften the onions after they have have been sauteed to a translucent state.
TOMATO PASTE Tomato paste is a super food. It is super concentrated tomato sauce with intense tomato flavor without all the moisture added.
BREAD CRUMBS I chose Italian bread crumbs for this recipe for both the filling and for coating the beef rolls.
PARSLEY Parsley is added to the Italian bread crumbs for more flavor in the filling.
PARMESAN Parmesan is also part of the filling ingredients that will be rolled up inside of the beef Spiedini.
RED ONION Red onion is alternated on the skewers with the beef rolls.
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HOW TO MAKE SPIEDINI STEP-BY-STEP
There are a couple steps to making Spiedini but they are all pretty simple and don’t require any special equipment.
PREPARING THE MEAT
First we will get the meat prepared. I was lucky enough to find thin sliced eye of round at the store so this helped shorten my preparations. All I need to do is pound it a little bit more on each side to get it down to 1/8″ thick.
If you need to buy beef rump or fillet steak I find it is easier to slice if you place it in the freezer until it is almost frozen and then you can slice it easier. Then do the same thing as I did above and pound it with a meat mallet and try to get it to an 1/8″ thick.
Once they are thin enough, season them with salt and pepper and place them in the refrigerator until the next part is ready to go.
PREPARING THE FILLING
In your large frying pan add in 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil and sauté the diced yellow onion for a few minutes until they are translucent. At this point pour in the water to soften the onions and add in the tomato paste. Mix it all until well combined.
Next add in the breadcrumbs. Stir over medium heat until toasted. Then turn off the heat and remove the pan from the burner.
Cut your red onion into quarters and separate the layers.
Once it cools down mix in the parley and parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper.
PREPARING THE SPIEDINI
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare your baking sheets by lining them with either silicone mats or parchment paper.
On a work surface, I use a large pastry mat, take one slice of the beef steak and place your hard salami on top of it followed by a Tbsp of the bread crumb mix. Roll them up tightly tucking in the sides as you go. Repeat this with each slice of beef.
On one plate pour the remaining Olive Oil and on a second plate pour the bread crumbs. Dip each rolled Spiedini in the Olive oil and then in the bread crumbs. Skewer 3 or 4 Spiedini on to each skewer adding red onion between each one.
Place on the baking sheets and put them into the preheat oven at 350 F for 20 minutes flipping them over half way through. They would be a golden brown on the outside and reach an internal temperature of 165 F.
You could also fry them in a shallow pan or grill them on a grill.
KITCHEN TIPS * To slice the eye of round thin it is easier to place the meat in the freezer until just before it's completely frozen and then slice it. * Add your favorite flavors to you kabobs like mushrooms, bell peppers, sausage, and more. * Cut them into smaller pieces and serve them as appetizers
HOW DO YOU STORE LEFTOVERS? Leftovers can easily be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. To freeze them wrap them in plastic and then place in a sealed container or freezer bag.
HOW DO YOU REHEAT LEFTOVERS? To reheat refrigerated Spiedini you can simply pop them in the microwave until warm covering them with a microwave cover or slightly damp paper towel, or you can wrap them in aluminum foil and place them in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 F until warm. If you are reheating frozen leftovers you will want to thaw them in the refrigerator for a day before reheating.
SOME MORE MEATY MEAL IDEAS * Dutch oven pork loin roast * Creamy lemon chicken * Stuffed chicken roulade * Pork chops with spaetzle & mushroom sauce
Spiedini
Equipment
- Skewers
- 2 baking sheet
- 2 Silicone mat or parchment paper
- 1 Meat mallet or something similar
- 1 large frying pan
Ingredients
- 2 lb Beef eye of round
- salt & pepper to seasson
- 4 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1 small Finely chopped yellow onion
- ⅓ c water
- 1 Tbsp Tomato paste
- 2 c Italian bread crumbs divided
- ¼ c Parsley
- 3 oz Parmesan cheese freshly shredded
- 1 med Red onion
Instructions
Preparing the Beef eye of round
- I purchased thin sliced beef eye of round. If you cannot find it you will purchase rump or fillet beef steaks. If you have to slice them I find it's easier to wait until they are almost frozen and then slice them with a knife.
- Since I purchased thin sliced beef eye of round I only had to use the mallet on them a little bit. You want to pound them to around ⅛ of an inch thick because these will be rolled.
- Once they are ready season them with a little salt and ground black pepper and place them in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest.
Filling preparations
- First step is to sauté the diced yellow onion. Add 2 Tbsp of the olive oil to a large frying pan and cook them until they are translucent.
- At this point add in the water and tomato paste. Cook for 3 minutes to soften the onions, and the tomato paste and water are mixed together.
- Now add in one cup of Italian bread crumbs. Stir it all together toasting the bread crumbs over medium heat.
- Once the bread crumbs are toasted turn off the heat and move the pan off the burner. Add the Parmesan cheese into the bread crumb mixture and season with salt and pepper.
Getting ready to roll up the Spiedini
- Turn on the oven and get it preheating to 350℉. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with either silicone mats or parchment paper.
- Peel and quarter the red onion and separate the layers for adding to the skewers.
- I used a large silicone mat as my work surface. Lay one piece of pounded eye of round on the work surface. Lay one slice of hard salami on top of it and then add a Tablespoon of the breadcrumb mix. Roll it up tightly, tucking in the ends as you roll it up.
- Repeat over and over with each piece of eye of round.
- Pour the extra olive oil on one plate and the other half of the breadcrumbs to another plate.
- Roll each of the Spiedini in the oil and then the breadcrumbs.
- Add 3 or 4 Spiedini to each skewer adding red onion between the rolls. Place two or three skewers on each baking sheet. If there is any remaining oil and bread crumbs drizzle the oil on the spiedini and press in the extra bread crumbs.
- Put the baking sheets in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until they turn golden brown on the surface. Turn them over after 10 minutes. Cook to a internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
