Bife à rolê (beef rolls in tomato sauce)

Method

1. Peel the carrot and cut it into 0.5 cm sticks as long as the steaks are wide. Slice 1 onion into thin strips and chop the other for the sauce; chop the garlic, parsley and chives.
2. Lay out the steaks, season with salt and black pepper and spread each with a little mustard. On each steak place 1 bacon rasher, 2 or 3 carrot sticks, a few onion strips and some parsley and chives. Roll up tightly from the narrow end and secure with 1 or 2 cocktail sticks.
3. In a wide pot over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and brown the rolls on all sides, about 6 minutes, in two batches. Set aside.
4. In the same pot over medium heat, cook the chopped onion with a pinch of salt for 3 minutes, scraping the bottom; add the garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add the tomato passata, 400 ml of hot water and the bay leaf and bring to the boil.
5. Return the rolls, cover and simmer for 60 to 70 minutes, turning them halfway, until the beef is fork-tender and the sauce has thickened (25 minutes in a pressure cooker once hissing). Adjust the salt and remove the sticks.
6. Make seasoned beans from cooked beans (2 tins, or from the week's batch): in a small pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and fry 2 chopped garlic cloves for 1 minute; add the black beans with their tin liquid, 1 bay leaf and 200 ml of water. Mash a ladleful of beans against the bottom to thicken the broth and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring now and then; taste before salting, as tinned beans are already seasoned. If starting from dried beans (250 g), soak them 8 to 12 hours and pressure-cook for 25 to 30 minutes once the cooker starts hissing.
7. Make fluffy white rice: boil 750 ml of water in a kettle. In a medium pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over low heat and soften ½ onion, finely chopped, with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes; add 300 g of long-grain rice and stir for 1 minute until every grain is coated. Pour in the boiling water, add 1 teaspoon of salt, stir once and cook uncovered over medium heat until the water drops to the level of the rice (about 7 minutes). Lower the heat, half-cover and cook 8 minutes more until dry; turn off the heat, keep covered for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork.
8. Serve the rolls whole or halved, with plenty of sauce, next to the rice and beans.