This is an Italian word used in cooking where, at times, a French word will suffice. Involtino is thinly sliced meat rolled around a stuffing and cooked. The plural is Involtini and the French equal, Roulade: A slice of meat rolled up, stuffed and cooked. (Plural is Roulades.) The difference? The Italian word, Involtino, specifies that the meat being rolled around a stuffing, is thinly sliced.
Heard this first on a January 17th airing of Chopped where NY city’s Chef Carmine used mystery ingredients to “wow” the judges by making an Involtini [sic]. He pluralized the word and so didn’t “wow” the judges; he was the first to be sent home in the competition which was won by Miami Beach’s feel-good underdog, the teary, formerly low-self-esteemed Chef Ms. (perhaps?) Adrienne Grenier.
