Polpettone | Italian Stuffed Meatloaf Recipe

Although there are certainly some great recipes out there, meatloaf isn’t exactly the kind of dish most of us would expect to be an extravagant, show-stopping centerpiece. That’s exactly what Italian meatloaf, or “polpettone,” is. Italians take what can often be a boring concept and elevate it with a time-honored seasoning strategy and creative stuffings. The result is delicious and eye catching!

Polpettone | Italian Stuffed Meatloaf Recipe

The Art of Making Polpettone

Italians call meatloaf polpettone, which literally means "big meatball." Anyone who is familiar with making Italian meatballs will recognize the similar method behind the meat mixture for a polpettone. Because the moisture in meat varies substantially, this process is an art more than a science: you need to use your senses when creating the perfect balance of meat, cheese, bread crumbs, and eggs—not too sticky (add more bread crumbs), not too dry and crumbly (add another egg).

Polpettone Stuffings

One of the great things about this meatloaf recipe is that you can stuff the polpettone with almost anything you like. Here we’ve presented a very traditional preparation with prosciutto cotto (ham), provola cheese, and hard-boiled eggs, but you can swap these ingredients out with your favorite fillings.

A few rules of thumb to be aware of:

• Avoid wet ingredients, such as fresh mozzarella

• Many vegetables need to be pre-cooked before stuffing, especially veggies that need to cook longer (such as potatoes)

• Stick to two or three simple ingredients

Watch the Pasta Grammar video:

POLPETTONE RECIPE

Makes: 6 servings

Cook Time: 1 ½ hours

For this recipe, you will need:

• 1 pound (450 g) ground beef

• 2 ounces (55 g) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

• 2 ounces (55 g) pecorino cheese, grated

• 1 cup (130 g) bread crumbs, plus more if needed

• 4 or 5 large eggs

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 3 ½ ounces (100 g) prosciutto cotto or ham, thinly sliced

• 3 ½ ounces (100 g) provola cheese (usually mis-labelled as “provolone” outside of Italy), thinly sliced

• 3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

• Extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 cup (240 ml) white wine

In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, grated cheeses, bread crumbs, and 4 eggs with a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper and mix well; the mixture should be soft and moldable but not too wet or sticky. If it is on the sticky side, add some more bread crumbs to help soak up the moisture; if the meat is a little dry and crumbly, mix in another egg.

Preheat the oven to 410°F (210°C).

Tear off a large sheet of parchment paper (about 24 inches, or 60 cm, in length). Transfer the meat mixture onto the parchment and press it flat into a large rectangle that fills the paper, leaving a 2-inch (5 cm) border of paper around the edges.

On top of the meat, arrange a layer of prosciutto cotto, followed by a layer of sliced cheese. Evenly distribute the sliced hard-boiled eggs over the cheese.

Using the parchment paper to help lift the edges, roll the meat up widthwise; the result should be a long, rolled sausage of ground meat. Press the ends and edge of the roll shut so that the meat completely seals in the filling. Wrap the meat in the parchment paper and twist the ends of the paper closed, like a candy wrapper.

Place the wrapped polpettone in a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and carefully unwrap and remove the parchment paper. Drizzle the polpettone with olive oil and pour the wine into the bottom of the pan. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, until the meatloaf is browned on top.

Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Buon appetito!