I have always loved German cooking, and I think this homemade rouladen is a simple way to cook something tastily German and well-worth the effort. I serve the rouladen with quick-make sides and incorporate a couple of cheats but if you have more time you can take your time with it! 

I make some store-bought spaetzle that cooks in 12 minutes and heat-and-eat rotkohl (sweet red cabbage in glass containers). I also use Knorr Fix fur Rouladen if I’m not in the mood to make the sauce from scratch! 

Ingredients:

6 Beef rouladen cuts (ask your butcher) or flattened beef schnitzel cuts

Salt & freshly ground black Pepper

English Mustard

One slice of German smoked ham per rouladen cut

Slices of cheddar cheese

Gherkins

Onion

Toothpicks

1 tbsp of Butter

Worcestershire sauce

A cube of beef stock in hot water 

1 tbsp Cornflour & 2tbsp water paste

400ml water

1 tbsp tomato puree

Cooked spaetzle as a side dish

Rotkohl as a side dish

Chopped Parsley to garnish

Method: Assembling the rouladen:

Season the beef with salt & pepper. Spread the mustard on it. Next, layer the ham, and put the cheese, gherkins and onion onto one side of the beef. 

Roll the beef up, starting from the side with the filling and “weave” the toothpicks through the ends to seal all the ingredients inside the rolls of beef. 

Melt the butter on medium heat. Brown the beef in the butter (making sure not to crowd the pot).

Once that is done, remove the beef and splash the worcestershire sauce into the pot to deglaze. Pour in the stock, cornflour mixture, water and tomato puree. Stir until a smooth gravy forms. 

Place the beef back into the pot, cooking on low heat for around two hours until the beef is tender. I use a pressure cooker, so that cuts the cooking time to around 40 minutes.

Serve with the sides, garnish with parsley and enjoy with your loved ones!