Mozzarella Beef Roll-Ups

I drove to Grinnell Saturday. Roger was in the garden — the garden that is his whole world now, the 83-year-old man who tends six tomato plants and twelve sunflowers with the same care he once gave four hundred acres. He's slower but he's still Roger. He still watches the crop reports. He still calls Jack on Wednesdays.

Thursday was tater tot hotdish, because Thursday is always tater tot hotdish and the schedule doesn't change for anything — not pandemics, not loss, not the passage of years. The tater tots go in at 375 and come out golden and the family eats them and the eating is the Thursday and the Thursday is the structure and the structure holds. But I also made zucchini bread earlier this week, because the kitchen doesn't only look backward. The kitchen grows.

The garden at peak production — tomatoes by the bushel, corn taller than Jack (which is saying something now, the boy is tall), peppers in every color, the zucchini in its annual attempt to conquer the neighborhood. I've left three on the neighbors' porch. They know. Everyone knows. The zucchini phase is endured, not discussed.

Standing in Roger’s garden watching him move row to row with that quiet, unhurried certainty — I came home with tomatoes on the brain and no interest in anything complicated. These Mozzarella Beef Roll-Ups have become my answer to the late-summer garden haul: the tomatoes go inside, the mozzarella melts around them, and the whole thing comes together in the time it takes to set the table. It’s the kind of dinner that feels like it was made for exactly this moment — when the tomatoes are perfect and the evenings are still warm and you want to honor the garden without fussing over it.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs thin-sliced beef top round or flank steak, pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
6 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
2 medium garden tomatoes, thinly sliced and patted dry
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
8 toothpicks or kitchen twine, for securing

Instructions

Prep the beef. Lay the beef slices flat on a clean work surface. Pat dry with paper towels. Brush the top surface of each slice lightly with olive oil, then season evenly with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and minced garlic.
Layer the filling. Arrange mozzarella slices across each piece of beef, leaving a 1/2-inch border at the edges. Top with tomato slices and 2–3 basil leaves per roll. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes if using.
Roll and secure. Starting from the short end, roll each piece of beef tightly around the filling. Secure each roll with a toothpick or tie with kitchen twine at both ends to hold its shape during cooking.
Sear the rolls. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the roll-ups seam-side down and sear for 2–3 minutes per side, turning carefully, until browned on all sides.
Finish in the oven. Transfer the skillet to a 375°F oven and roast for 10–12 minutes, until the beef is cooked through and the mozzarella is melted. Let rest 5 minutes before removing toothpicks and serving.
Serve. Slice rolls in half on a diagonal if desired. Garnish with remaining fresh basil and serve alongside crusty bread or a simple green salad.

Nutrition (per serving)

Mozzarella Beef Roll-Ups — Roger’s Garden Tomatoes Deserve This