Czech Beef Roll-Ups in Gravy (Španělské ptáčky)

Peel and halve hard-boiled eggs. Cut soft sausage into thin strips. Cut dill pickles lengthwise into halves or quarters.

• hard-boiled eggs: 2
• soft sausage: 1 piece
• dill pickles: 2 small

Peel onions. Cut a few wedges for filling the rolls and finely chop the remainder.

• onions: 4 medium

Cut part of bacon into strips or pieces for the filling, and dice the remainder for the gravy.

• bacon: 3.5 oz

Tenderize beef round with a meat mallet on both sides. Each slice should be roughly 4×8 inches and no more than 1/4 inch thick.

• beef round: 4 slices

Season the beef on both sides with salt to taste and ground black pepper.

• salt
• ground black pepper: 0.5 tsp

Spread one side of each beef slice with some of the yellow mustard.

• yellow mustard: 5 tbsp

Place half an egg, some bacon, sausage, an onion wedge, and pickle on the upper half of each beef slice.

Roll each piece of beef tightly around the filling, tucking in the sides as you go. Secure each roll with kitchen twine.

Heat sunflower oil in a heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

• sunflower oil: 2 tbsp

Brown the beef rolls thoroughly on all sides, then transfer them to a plate.

Add the chopped onions and remaining bacon to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes , stirring frequently, until the onions are golden. If the pan becomes too dry, add water.

• water: 1 tbsp

Sprinkle in all-purpose flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute .

• all-purpose flour: 1.5 tbsp

Stir in the remaining mustard.

Pour in pickle brine and beef broth, stirring well to combine.

• pickle brine: 0.333 cup
• beef broth: 4 cups

Return the beef rolls to the pan and bring the liquid to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer gently for 1.5 hours , or until the beef is fork-tender.

Remove the rolls from the gravy and take off the kitchen twine.

Taste the gravy and adjust with salt and ground black pepper as needed.

• salt
• ground black pepper

Blend the gravy briefly with an immersion blender until smooth.

Return the beef rolls to the gravy and warm them through.