Meatloaf Florentine

Submitted by Kay D.

"I had some spinach for a salad, but I can never finish those big bags before they turn slimy, so this recipe from meals.com was the perfect way to use the rest of the spinach. The recipe calls for frozen spinach, but fresh works just fine, 2 or 3 cups of it, chopped up in the food processor. I also used 1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs in place of the bread slices, the ingredient list, however, is being posted in it's original state."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 30mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon crushed dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 lb ground beef
• 3 slices whole wheat bread
• 1 egg white
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine tomato sauce, oregano, basil and garlic powder in a small bowl.
3. In a larger bowl, mix beef, bread crumbs, egg white, salt pepper, and 1/2 the tomato sauce mixture until well combined.
4. Press meat mixture onto a sheet of wax paper, making a rectangle approx.
5. 8 x 10 inches.
6. Spoon spinach over half.
7. Place mozzarella cheese over spinach, being careful not to place too close to the edges, or your filling will leak out.
8. Fold meat over so that spinach and cheese are inside.
9. Pinch edges to seal.
10. Place meat in shallow baking pan, on a rack or strips of aluminum foil, or some means of keeping the loaf off the pan to allow the juices to drain.
11. Top with remaining tomato sauce and the parmesan cheese.
12. Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour.
13. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.
14. (try the leftovers on a sandwich or kaiser roll).

Reviews

[ArabianGal]

I LOVE this meatloaf! Meatloaf is my DH's favorite meal, and I thought I had tried making it just about every way you could (pizza flavored, BBQ, veggie chunks, lasagna, Bacon wrapped etc) but then I found this recipe.... Wow, we were both blown away! I pretty much stuck with this recipe exactly for the most part with only a couple "extras." 1. I added extra seasoning of everything and 2. I made extra sauce for the top. I waited until I cut the meatloaf and then added more of the warmed up sauce over the cuts once they were on our plates. I didn't even have a left over! between the super moist meat, yummy flavors and the oozing cheesiness this meatloaf is a winner in my book! I also used this as one of my contribution recipes to my groups freezer meal home workshops, got great reviews with them too! Thanks so much!

 

[cipherbabe]

There was a time when I was on a relentless pursuit of a delicious meatloaf recipe. The ketchup/vinegar/Worcestershire sauce/brown sugar variations out there did not inspire me to make any recipe a keeper. Finally, I vowed I would never make another meatloaf again. Then I heard of the Florentine type of meatloaf a couple of month's ago. I found this recipe, and I have to say that it was absolutely the yummy I was looking for! Pretty much seasoned perfectly, though the cheese may have tipped it over into just slightly too salty. I cut the amount of spinach to maybe a couple of tablespoons. I am so pleased to have found this recipe! Definitely a keeper!!

 

[Iris Jet]

Definitely a winner! I loved it and so did everyone else...it came out perfect! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Luv2CookHate2Clean]

Another winner from Recipezaar for us! The entire family loved this one. Even my youngest, who is kind of anti-spinach right now, adored the meatloaf part. Since the spinach wasn't mixed in completely, he was able to eat around it. Thumbs up all around!

 

[Mrs. Moon]

I am not a huge meatloaf fan, but I really loved this one. I forget to put some of the sauce in the filling and it still turned out great. I can see this being very versatile! Thanks for sharing!