Eddie (my fiancé) loves anything that has ground meat. His grandmother used to make him ground beef sautéed with butter and till this day, although his grandmama is not with us (God bless her), he still asks for that dish. I've never made his grandmother's dish for him, it just doesn't feel right, but I have made him other things made with ground beef -- burgers, lasagna, meatballs, and the infamous hit-or-miss meatloaf.
I've never gotten into the habit of writing down the my recipes... that is until I started this cooking site. Maybe that is why my meatloaf dishes would be scrumptious on a good one day and completely inedible on a bad day. This is mainly due to me trying to find healthier alternatives in making meatloaf. I've tried grounding up chicken breast, on my own, and adding shredded carrots to the meatloaf -- let's just say I wouldn't even serve that catastrophe to my dog. Learning from past experience, meatloaves with super lean meats are never successful. When you try to get your loved ones to eat healthy, you get creative, but creativity has its ups and downs (I know a lot of you can relate).
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Then I saw this meatloaf recipe from Food & Wine. Their recipe calls for two different types of ground meat and some other things that I don't have in the house. So I simplified it. My loaded meatloaf recipe calls for ground beef wrapped around spinach, carrots, proscuitto and provolone. Sticking some carrots and spinach in there is a nice way to hide the vegetables. Eddie, who absolutely hates boiled, soft carrots, actually loved the carrots wrapped in the meatloaf! This meatloaf is pretty easy to make. The hardest part about this recipe is transferring the loaf onto a baking rack. Oh, also it was hard trying to not to eat all the proscuitto and provolone before wrapping them all up the meatloaf :)
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The instructions on Food and Wine basically said that we should roll the meatloaf as we would a sushi roll. I find it easier to take the plastic wrap on the bottom (closest to you) and roll it up a third of the way, then take the plastic wrap on the top (side furthest from you) and roll it down. You should also pat all seams down and smooth out the loaf. I closed up the fold but didn't smooth out the whole loaf which caused bits of the loaf to crumble off when I sliced it. Also, another note, if you mind bits of the loaf sticking to the cooling rack, you should spray the rack down with some non-stick spray before placing the meatloaf on it.
Meatloaf Stuffed With Spinach, Proscuitto, Carrots and Provolone
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
| 2 small carrots, cut in long diagonal strips (see picture above) 2 cups spinach (removed from thick stems) 2 pound ground beef (roughly 90-95% lean is good) 1 cup panko (or bread crumbs) 1 cup grated pecorino cheese | 3 eggs 5 slices prosciutto 5 slices provolone cheese 2 sprigs rosemary 1/4 cup dry white wine 2 cups water |
Boil some salted water in a pot (put enough water to boil the carrots and spinach separately). Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
Cook the sliced carrots until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer the carrots to a plate. Put spinach in the boiling water and cook until wilted. Drain the spinach well and put together with the carrots.
In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, panko, pecorino cheese, eggs, 1/2 teaspoon on salt and a dash of pepper. Mix well together.
Line a work surface with a 15-inch-long sheet of plastic wrap. Press the meat mixture onto the plastic wrap until it is a 12-by-10 inch rectangle, about 3/4 inch thick. Lay the spinach over the meat, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Put the carrots on top the spinach. The carrots should be parallel to the edge where you will be rolling the meat (see picture above). Lay the prosciutto over the carrots, and lay provolone cheese over the prosciutto.
Roll the long end of the rectangle, the side closest to you, up (about a third of the way). Then fold the top end of the rectangle down. You should now have a roll about 4 inches long and 12 inches wide.
Put the rosemary sprigs on the baking sheet. Set a cooling rack on top of the baking pan and pour in the white wine and 1 cup of water. Place the meatloaf on top of the cooking rack. Bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes, then add another 1 cup of water to the baking pan and bake for another 35 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the meatloaf reads 165˚F.
Transfer the meatloaf to a cutting board and cover loosely with a foil. Strain just the pan juices (no dripped cheese) into a serving bowl.
Slice the meatloaf 1 inch thick and serve with pan juices.
Cook the sliced carrots until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer the carrots to a plate. Put spinach in the boiling water and cook until wilted. Drain the spinach well and put together with the carrots.
In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, panko, pecorino cheese, eggs, 1/2 teaspoon on salt and a dash of pepper. Mix well together.
Line a work surface with a 15-inch-long sheet of plastic wrap. Press the meat mixture onto the plastic wrap until it is a 12-by-10 inch rectangle, about 3/4 inch thick. Lay the spinach over the meat, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Put the carrots on top the spinach. The carrots should be parallel to the edge where you will be rolling the meat (see picture above). Lay the prosciutto over the carrots, and lay provolone cheese over the prosciutto.
Roll the long end of the rectangle, the side closest to you, up (about a third of the way). Then fold the top end of the rectangle down. You should now have a roll about 4 inches long and 12 inches wide.
Put the rosemary sprigs on the baking sheet. Set a cooling rack on top of the baking pan and pour in the white wine and 1 cup of water. Place the meatloaf on top of the cooking rack. Bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes, then add another 1 cup of water to the baking pan and bake for another 35 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the meatloaf reads 165˚F.
Transfer the meatloaf to a cutting board and cover loosely with a foil. Strain just the pan juices (no dripped cheese) into a serving bowl.
Slice the meatloaf 1 inch thick and serve with pan juices.
