Rosa di Parma is not a flower, but a rose-like roast. Its name comes from the way the roast looks like: being fairly rare, the meat is similar to a rose and the origin is confirmed by the ingredients used to prepare it, namely Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Rosa di Parma only contains ingredients that are naturally gluten-free and is practically carb-free. Thanks to the presence of few, yet refined ingredients, its preparation is very simple, but challenging at the same time: the difficulty lies in finding the right cooking point. And what is the right cooking point? Even if the name reveals that it should be “rosy” internally, I have to admit that my children like meat when it is medium to well-done, therefore I always have to find a compromise to make everyone happy at home.

Something interesting to know: in Parma there is a deeply rooted tradition of eating horse meat, which is absolutely banned at our place because of Gaia’s great passion for horse riding. Well, in many families, Rosa di Parma is prepared replacing beef fillet with a cut of horse meat rigorously recommended by your trusted butcher.

To prepare this typical dish, you can watch the video on my Youtube channel (do you remember it? I shared it during the lockdown in 2020 for one of our daily appointments) where you can learn how to easily tie the roast with string: at this point, it’s time to try! And if you like roast meat, have a look at this Stuffed turkey.

Rosa di Parma   

carbohydrates per 100g negligible

Ingredients

• 800g beef fillet, opened up to form a rectangle
• 100g Prosciutto di Parma, sliced
• 1 glass of Marsala wine
• Parmigiano Reggiano in slivers
• 1 clove of garlic
• aromatic herbs
• salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Put the fillet reclangle on a cutting board, rub it well with the clove of garlic cut in half to flavour the meat.
2. Form a layer of slices of Prosciutto di Parma on the meat in order to cover its surface completely. Then, cover the layer of Prosciutto with thin slivers of Parmigiano Reggiano leaving out just a couple of centimetres of meat all around the perimeter.
3. Roll the fillet on the long side, then tie it with string (watch the video recipe to see how) to keep the fillet together well.

Rosa di Parma ready for being cooked

4. Rub the outer surface again with garlic, pour a good amount of olive oil in a frying pan, then when the oil is hot, add Rosa di Parma and roast it well on all sides to seal the meat. When the meat is perfectly sealed, add aromatic herbs to taste and continue cooking the meat for 15 minutes, then add red wine or, as I did, Marsala wine. Once alcohol has evaporated, complete cooking. The cooking point is very personal: my children like meat when medium or well-done as you can see in the video recipe, whereas in the picture below the fillet is rare.

5. Wrap Rosa di Parma in foil for about 10 minutes to allow the meat juice to level out and in the meantime reduce the cooking juice that will be used as a sauce for serving.

6. Slice Rosa di Parma and dress it with the reduced juice.

Rosa di Parma sliced

Version with gluten of Rosa di Parma 

The recipe contains only naturally gluten-free ingredients, so no adaptation is needed for its version with gluten.