Sunday, November 10, 2013

My Favorite Italian Meatloaf





Here's the deal.  I've been talking about this delicious meatloaf for quite some time and many of you have been asking for the recipe over and over.  I have made it quite a few times with rave reviews, so today is your lucky day!

It is definitely not your every day meatloaf as the ingredient list makes it a bit expensive for an average meal, but I'm here to tell you it's worth every penny.  This is a recipe I found on the Food and Wine website from Mario Batali and became bookmarked immediately!  This makes a lot of meatloaf and you can always cut the ingredient list in half, but you will definitely want more the next day and you can always freeze leftovers.

You can also put it together the day before and set in the fridge overnight.  Bring to room temperature and bake.    Because of the richness of this meal, I add a simple green vegetable like asparagus and roasted potatoes.



Meatloaf Stuffed with Prosciutto, Spinach and Carrots

Ingredients:

  1. 2 large carrots, each cut lengthwise into 6 slices
  2. 4 cups spinach (3 ounces), thick stems discarded
  3. 2 pounds lean ground beef
  4. 2 pounds ground pork
  5. 2 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
  6. 2 cups freshly grated pecorino cheese (6 ounces)
  7. 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
  8. Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  9. 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  10. 12 thin slices of prosciutto (4 ounces)
  11. 1/2 pound provolone cheese, cut into twelve 1/8-inch-thick slices
  12. 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  13. 4 sprigs of rosemary
  14. 2 cups dry red wine
  15. 1 cup water
Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the carrots until tender, 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate. Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook just until wilted; drain well and add to the carrots.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the beef with the pork, 2 cups of the bread crumbs, the pecorino, eggs, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper; mix well with your hands.
  3. Line a work surface with a 15-inch-long sheet of plastic wrap. In a bowl, mix the flour with the remaining 1/2 cup of bread crumbs. Sprinkle half of the crumb mixture all over the plastic wrap. Transfer half of the meat loaf mixture to the plastic and press it into a 12-by-10-inch rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Lay half of the spinach leaves over the meat, leaving a 1-inch border on the short sides. Arrange half of the carrots over the spinach, and top with half the prosciutto and sliced cheese. Starting from the long end of the plastic wrap closest to you, tightly roll up the meat loaf, tucking in the filling and using the plastic wrap to guide you; discard the plastic. Repeat with another 15-inch sheet of plastic and the remaining bread crumbs, meat mixture, spinach, carrots, prosciutto and cheese. Drizzle each meat loaf with 2 tablespoons of oil.
  4. Put the rosemary sprigs in the bottom of a broiler pan and pour in the red wine. Cover with the broiler pan grate. Set the meat loaves about 2 inches apart on the grate. Bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes. Turn the broiler pan around and pour the water through the grate. Continue baking for about 35 minutes longer, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of each meat loaf registers 165°.
  5. Transfer the meat loaves to a carving board and cover loosely with foil. Discard any cheese from the bottom of the pan and strain the pan juices into a small saucepan. Boil the pan juices over high heat until reduced to 1 cup, about 5 minutes. Pour into a serving bowl and season with salt and pepper.
  6. Using a serrated knife, slice the meat loaves 1 inch thick and serve, passing the pan juices at the table.  
Sometimes I just go ahead and add the entire bottle of wine to the pan so we have more juice but if not, just pour it into a glass and toast the best meatloaf you will ever taste!  Let me know if you decide to make this lovely dish.  I can't wait to hear the wows...

I have designed a new website which will go live tonight.  Please take the time to look it over and let me know what you think.  I love feedback!

Have a fabulous week everyone, I know I will.

Linda


2 comments:

  1. This recipe is somewhat close to the Broccoli that I make but mine is a lot less expensive and is easy to make but a little time consuming. I use ground sirloin, ground pork and when I can get ground veal I will use it too. For 2 broccoli use 2 lbs. of ground sirloin, one half pound of ground pork and one half pound of ground veal. 2 hard boiled eggs sliced across to make round slices 1/4 inch thick, Italian breadcrumbs, a 1/2 cup of milk or less. thin sliced salami, thin sliced Romano ( I use a potato peeler to make the cheese slices), granulated garlic powder, and one bunch fresh chopped parsley.
    Mix all ingredients except the Romano cheese slices, egg slices and salamni with your hands just like you would make meat balls.

    When mixed well divide the mixture into 2 balls. Flatten out each ball on a flat service into an oblong strip about 8" long and 4" wide. Tip wet your hands with a little olive oil when flatting the meat. Next layer the following about an inch from the edge of the flattened meat. Lay 4 pieces of the salami on top of the flattened ground meat, lay the sliced egg rounds on top and then then the sliced Romano cheese.Again wet hands with a little olive oil. Next on a flat surface roll the meat into a oblong roll making sure the meat roll is smooth with no cracks. I use string to make sure that the roll with not open up while cooking.
    Next brown the meat roll in a frying pan with a little olive oil turning carefully to brown evenly. When completely browned put the meat roll into a pan of smearing spaghetti sauce and cook as long as you do for the spaghetti sauce.
    When you are ready to serve remove the string and slice the meat roll into slices about an inch wide. Enjoy.







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  2. Sounds wonderful! I will give it a try!

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