On the weekends, I
like to have lots of leftovers for H
and me to snack on. I had meatloaf in the fridge AND I had made a big pot of
minestrone the day before. While I was heating up the soup, I got a hankering
for a bit of meatloaf. Instead of having it separately, I just cubed it up and
added it to my steaming cup of minestrone. No additional heating up was
necessary.
It was soooo delicious and it was such an excellent combination. It was
very Italian Wedding Soup-like without all the greens…and with a lot more
vegetables. All the bits and pieces that were in the meatloaf (see below) went
together beautifully with the huge (but easily sourced) list of minestrone ingredients.
Here’s how to make
both:
Years ago, my friend A
drew my attention to the extraordinary meatloaf in the Silver Palate Good Times
Cookbook. I can’t believe I had never noticed this recipe before. It
wasn’t what was IN the meatloaf that intrigued me, but HOW it was shaped. It
was patted out into a large rectangle, topped with sundried tomatoes, large
leaves of basil and slices of smoked mozzarella. Then it was ROLLED UP like a
jellyroll. And when you cut it, it had yummy swirls of pretty stuff in each
slice. (The ends of the meatloaf look a little swirl-less in this picture, but the middle was quite attractive.)
Those spiral slices
are really special, and any meatloaf would be enhanced with a layer of savory
goodness in the middle. Lately I’ve been chopping things up from the olive bar
- sundried tomatoes, baby (pitted) olives and those cute cubes of feta and using
that as my filling.
In the meatloaf
itself, I often use what I have handy or leftover – sometimes it’s brown rice,
or crumbs made from the heels of oldish bread. (Fresh bread crumbs are fine
too, as are Progresso’s.) I’ve also used finely chopped nuts in place of or in
addition to the bread crumbs or rice. And I always add shredded zucchini and
carrots and chopped onions.
Why do I add all of
this to my meatloaf? Because I am 100% trying to stretch the meat as much as
possible and increase the ratio of the other ingredients to the meat.
My Meatloaf
MEATLOAF:
1 medium zucchini
2 medium carrots,
peeled
1 large onion,
chopped finely
2 pounds ground beef
(sirloin works, chuck gives great flavor)
1 egg
2 cups bread crumbs,
dried or fresh and/or leftover brown rice
½ cup ketchup
½ cup parsley, finely
chopped
FILLING:
1½ cups chopped
sundried tomatoes, pitted olives, feta, halloumi or whatever appeals to you
from the olive bar.
MIXED WITH
½ cup parsley and/or
basil, finely chopped
OR go with the classic and use basil
leaves, whole sundried tomatoes and slices of any type of mozzarella
Plus:
4 Yukon gold
potatoes, halved and sliced
1 secret ingredient,
which is in the body of the recipe
Shred zucchini and
carrots with shredding blade of food processor. Place in large bowl with all
the other meatloaf ingredients.
Using clean hands,
mix meatloaf ingredients together. Mix well, but don’t squeeze the life out of
everything. Place two big sheets of plastic wrap on the counter, overlapping to
give you a big rectangle. Place meatloaf mixture in middle and pat into a large
rectangle. Spoon over sundried tomato and parsley mixture leaving about
an inch border all around. From the short side, roll up the meatloaf, using the
plastic wrap to help, and place in a roasting pan, which has been sprayed with
nonstick spray.
Surround the meatloaf
with the sliced potatoes and spoon half a can or more of condensed tomato soup
over the top. Serve whatever is leftover in the can separately. (This is a
trick from H’s mother, which shocked me at first. I tried it years ago
and I never skip it now. I buried it in the recipe, so you wouldn’t judge
me.)
Note: If canned soup
appalls you too much (I do understand), take a small can of diced tomatoes and
put it in a glass bowl. Microwave on high for 3 minutes and you’ll get a nicely
thickened, chunky tomato pureé that’s also good for the top of the meatloaf.
Bake at 375°F*
for one hour, turning the potatoes once during baking.
* You may bake meatloaf at any
temperature from 350°F to 400°F without incident. If you need the oven at
another temperature, the meatloaf will understand. One hour is about right, but
I suppose at 400°F you could check the potatoes and the temp of the meat after
45 minutes. The internal temperature of the meatloaf should 160°F.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
It's only
the list of ingredients here that's lengthy. Once you've gathered and chopped
up everything, it's easy to proceed. Leave out any vegetables you don’t like,
or add in any you love.
My
Minestrone
2 onions,
sliced
¼ green
cabbage, sliced
2
carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks
celery, sliced
olive oil
handful
of white mushrooms, sliced
½ tsp.
salt
½ tsp.
freshly ground pepper
2
quarts vegetable, chicken or beef stock
1 cup
white wine
2
potatoes, any size, peeled, medium diced
1 large
can tomatoes OR 2 lbs. fresh tomatoes, chopped
2
zucchini, chopped
thyme,
sage + basil, 1 generous tbl. each, if fresh OR 1 generous tsp. dried
1 cup
string beans, topped and tailed
1 14 oz.
can beans, drained and rinsed under cold water - cannelloni, kidney, chickpeas
- your choice
½ cup
uncooked elbow pasta, cooked al dente, separately in boiling water*
Soften
onions, cabbage, carrots and celery in olive oil on medium heat. Raise
heat to medium high and add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook until
mushrooms are just beginning to release liquid. Add stock and wine,
potatoes and canned tomatoes. Bring to boil. Add zucchini
and string beans. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Add 1
can beans. Simmer another 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Add
cooked elbows 5 minutes before serving.
Soup can
be frozen when completely cool.
* Always cook the pasta
separately and add it just before serving. If you cook the elbows in the
minestrone, it will absorb all the liquid.
NOTE: I
like to serve this with large croutes of French bread topped with
Emmental. Cut your bread thickish on an angle. Top with
cheese and place under broiler or in toaster oven until cheese melts. You
only have to cook one side.
