Mario's meatloaf
I am becoming a big fan of Mario. And enjoy borrowing his recipes. And maybe changing them a bit to my liking/ease.
And his meatloaf made my day. Actually not just any day; his meatloaf made our Easter. Since we were having guests for dinner, I made stuffed meatloaf in advance of Easter and tucked it away in my freezer. And THAT made me even happier. I am slowly, deliberately collecting a list of meals and shortcuts that come from-my-freezer. I find it helpful... do you?
Whether a full blown meal like my lasagna, macaroni and cheese or now this meatloaf, I am ever-at-the ready for a table full of people... or a table full of hungry adolescents---since that is really what I am prepping for.
There are a lot of little sauces and stocks, bread crumbs, misc. prepped items and full-blown meals in my freezer. Now each time I find a new one to add, I feel that much more prepared to snag whatever is necessary to make meal-prep smooth and easy. Tell me, what is in your freezer?
Mario's Meatloaf, and then some:makes 6-8 servings.
1 LB ground beef (veal works too) 1 LB ground pork 2 cups fresh bread crumbs (I prefer making my own rosemary bread-crumbs and store bags of them in my freezer) i cup freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan 3 large eggs Coarse Salt & Pepper 4 oz. spinach 2 carrots cut into 1/2 inch matchsticks Drained, then chopped sundried tomatoes (stored in oil) 3 T flour 3 T bread crumbs 4-6 slices Prosciutto 6 slices or matchsticks of soft cheese (I used young pecorino, you could use Provolone, Jack, Mozzarella...) rosemary 1/2 cup olive oil
Grab a big bowl and add: meats, bread crumbs, cheese, eggs, S&P. Mix thoroughly, cover and put in fridge. Oven 400; boil water, add some salt to water, set up an ice bath (bowl of cold water with ice) and cook spinach for less than a minute, then put in ice bath, then drain on paper towels. Do the same with the carrots, but cook for 5-6 minutes--ice bath--drain. Combine 3 T flour and bread crumbs and spread on piece of parchment---on counter. Roll meat mixture onto flour/crumb mix, into a 6x16 inch rectangle. Leaving 1 inch on both short ends, lay prosciutto, then spinach, cheese, tomatoes and carrots. USE parchment to help your roll up the meatloaf (the long way). Layer rosemary in bottom of baking dish, place meatloaf on a top and drizzle with olive oil. Bake 1 hour (internal temp 165). Remove from oven, and let meatloaf rest. Transfer pan juices to skillet and simmer to reduce. Season to taste---serve with slices of meatloaf.
p.s. slices of this meatloaf would be brilliant on top of smashed potatoes...
