Italian Layered Meat-and-potato Loaf With Roasted Tomatoes

FlemishMinx's Note:

This is a slightly different take on meatloaf, and when you prepare the tomatoes (their garlicy-olive oil taste make a very complementary combination) as well you've got an entire delicious meal. I think the only thing really "Italian" about this dish is the red/white/green color combination (as found in the Italian flag) that you get from the ingredients, but I've left the name as I found it on some now un-remembered website. Warning: this is a recipe for people who don't mind using their hands . . .

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

FOR THE MEATLOAF

• 500 g potatoes , peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoons milk
• salt and pepper , to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion , peeled and chopped
• 1 red chili pepper , chopped (deseeded or not, your choice)
• 1 clove garlic , peeled,and chopped
• 750 g minced beef or 750 g ground pork or 750 g ground veal (preferably equal parts of the three)
• ¾ cup white breadcrumb
• ¼ cup fresh basil , roughly chopped
• 1 egg , beaten
• ½ cup mozzarella cheese , grated
• 6 -8 spinach leaves , washed,dried,stems and tough bits removed
• 2 tablespoons honey

FOR THE TOMATOES

• 8 tomatoes (1 for each person being served)
• 4 cloves garlic , thinly sliced (1/2 clove for each tomato being prepared)
• olive oil , for drizzling
• salt , for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
2. FOR THE MEATLOAF:.
3. Boil potatoes till tender; drain.
4. Add milk and salt and pepper to taste; potatoes should still be pretty dry, but hold together enough to work with in a later step.
5. While the potatoes are boiling, add oil to a frying pan and saute the onion, pepper, and garlic till tender, but not brown (about 3-5 minutes); take off heat and allow to cool.
6. In a large bowl, combine the onion mix, minced meat, breadcrumbs, basil and egg; add salt and pepper to taste and mix very well (use your hands).
7. Place half of the meat mixture in a baking dish, shaping it into a rather wide loaf with a flattened top (since you will be stacking the other ingredients above).
8. Take half of the mashed potatoes, and make a level layer of them above the meat base (once again, hands work best).
9. Cover the potato layer with the spinach leaves.
10. Cover the spinach with the mozzarella, again making a level layer.
11. Cover this with the remaining potatoes, once again leveling.
12. Finish off with the remaining meat, molding and shaping it to not only cover the top, but down the sides as needed to keep the stacks together.
13. Bake for 20 minutes, glaze the top with honey, and continue baking for 20 to 25 more minutes.
14. Allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing.
15. FOR THE TOMATOES:.
16. Just as you are placing the meatloaf in the oven, wash tomatoes, and slice in half horizontally.
17. Remove the pips and juices with your fingers.
18. Sprinkle the tomato cavities with salt, then turn them upside down on a paper towel (this will help remove extra juices which would tend to make them mushy when baking).
19. After fifteen minutes, place the tomato halves right side up on a non-stick baking sheet.
20. Place the garlic slivers in the tomato cavities (at least two per cavity) and drizzle with olive oil (to taste, but I recommend about 1/2 tsp per tomato).
21. At the time that you glaze the meatloaf with the honey, place the tomatoes in the oven (thus, bake for 20-25 minutes).

Reviews

[Eli Ray]

This was very good. I made it according to the recipe. The only thing I had a hard time with was the roasted tomatoes. They tasted good but came out mushy. However I don't think that's a problem with the recipe, I think it's operator error. :)

[Gina, Dundee, Scotland]

Very tasty. I'd defrosted pork and turkey mince so I used them. Beef would be beautiful too. I used extra garlic as we are garlic addicts. A little fiddly but worth it. Definetely make this again but double it to freeze.

[kcdelong]

Family loved it. I didn't use the spinich or the honey.I added some diced tomatoes to it. The flavor combonation was great. Very easy to make. Its a keeper.