Meatloaf (Polpettone) is one of the great classics of Italian Cuisine. There are many variations based on chicken or beef and with the addition of ingredients such as vegetables or mozzarella cheese. Here we propose a Grandmother’s Meatloaf in tomato sauce, with boiled eggs, smoked cheese and ham.
The recipe is a bit long but rather easy: the only difficulty of the preparation concerns the consistency. In fact, sometimes the meatloaf may be too dry. To avoid this effect, mix the meat with the bread crumbs soaked in milk.
The meatloaf with boiled eggs is a rich and tasty second course, perfect for a family Sunday lunch, or for dinners where you have guests and you want to surprise them with something fancy. It is a second course that is perfect also for the Easter menu, precisely because eggs are the symbol of Easter.
Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan and cook 3 eggs for about 8 minutes. At the end of cooking, pass them under running water and peel them.
Soak the stale bread in a bowl filled with water for a few minutes. Squeeze it and mix it with the meat, mixing the two ingredients with your hands.
Add 2 eggs to the mixture, the chopped parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg and mix.
Transfer the mixture to a work surface and spread the meat to form a rectangle about 1/2 centimeter thick.
Cut the ham into strips and the smoked scamorza cheese and distribute them over the meat together with the 3 shelled but whole boiled eggs.
Wet your hands with a little water so as not to stick the meat and roll it up to obtain a meatloaf.
Put a little oil in a pan and fry the meatloaf on both sides for a few minutes. Lower the heat and continue cooking for about 15 minutes. After cooking, place the meatloaf aside in a dish.
Brown the garlic in the pan in which you cooked the meatloaf by adding a drizzle of oil, along with the tomato sauce, a pinch of salt, a grinding of pepper and basil. Cook the sauce for about 20 minutes.
Put the meatloaf back in the pan and let it cook for about 30/40 minutes over low heat. Serve cut into slices so that the boiled egg is clearly visible.
Serve the rolled meatloaf with boiled eggs in slices accompanied by a salad or the classic baked potatoes. You can keep it for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
Meatloaf is one of the most versatile dishes of Italian cuisine, you can unleash your imagination by following your favorite tastes: add or replace ham with other ingredients such as spinach, fried eggplants or zucchini, sliced bacon, mortadella, etc.
When preparing the meatloaf with sauce, remember that in the end you can make the scarpetta or use the sauce to season pasta!
We are Italians. We live in Italy. We love Italian food. PizzaCappuccino is the worldwide landmark for the authentic Italian recipes and the best Italian food. Our daily mission is to collect only the best authentic traditional Italian recipes. Cook Italian, Eat Italian!
