I have a confession to make….
I don’t often follow recipe instructions.
Sometimes I don’t even read them.
I saw this on a video on Facebook a few weeks ago: Stuffed Meatloaf, with cheese and spinach.
It looked fun and easy so I decided to make it.
The finished meatloaf was completely wrapped in bacon….. So American (she generalizes).
Our bacon is not all that great when I can even find it in strips (thus my using dry-cured ham a lot) so I decided not to bother.
I also forgot to book mark the recipe so I had to make it from memory, but I figured it’s meatloaf – how hard can it be?
It wasn’t at all hard – but I did learn that the bacon had a purpose.
Stuffed Meatloaf
Total time: 70 minutes
Ingredients:
- 14oz (420gr) ground beef
- 1 egg
- 3 tbs dry bread crumbs
- 2 tbs ketchup
- 2 tbs Dijon-style mustard
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2oz (60gr) cheese, thinly sliced
- 4 – 5 slices dry-cured ham, depending on size
- 2oz (60gr) fresh spinach
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup (2oz, 60ml) water
- Foil
Instructions:
- In a large bowl lightly beat egg.
- Add crumbs, ketchup, mustard, basil, paprika and mix well.
- Add beef and mix very well – hands are best.
- Place meatloaf on a large sheet of foil (13″ X 15″) and pat into an oblong about 1/2″ thick.
- Lay cheese in a single layer on beef to within 1/2″ of the edges.
- Top with ham, then spinach.
- Using the foil to assist, roll the meatloaf up into a log,
- Place meatloaf, seam side down, in a roasting pan.
- Top with remaining ham slices (*see note)
- Roast 200C (400F) for 40 minutes.
- Pour tomato sauce and water into the pan to make a pan sauce. Stir briefly and return to oven
- Roast 10 minutes longer.
- Remove and let rest for 5 – 10 minutes.
- Slice and serve, tomato pan sauce on the side.
- *Note: You could wrap the meatloaf in bacon: lay enough bacon strips on the foil to cover the meatloaf. Each strip should wrap around the loaf horizontally. Roll the meatloaf in the bacon and place in the roasting pan on the seam where the bacon ends meet.
What, you may be wondering, is the purpose of the bacon? Other than just being bacon?
It holds the meatloaf together.
I didn’t originally put the ham on top. I just put the lovely, perfectly round meatloaf in the oven.
I looked at it about 15 minutes later and the top layer had split neatly down the middle and opened like a book.
It opened completely, the sides lying in the pan, but it did stay intact the long way.
Well, I couldn’t hardly take a partially cooked meatloaf out of the pan and wrap it in string – not that string would have worked at this point anyway.
I grabbed a couple of slices of ham, put the two halves of the meatloaf back together and laid the ham on top, pressed it all together a bit and put it back.
The ham held, mostly….. Strangely, the exposed cheese browned rather than melted away into nothing.
The end result is not nearly as pretty and perfect as what I remember seeing on the video. But we were happy. How can one go wrong with a good meatloaf?
And there were leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches…..
I’ll try it again – with bacon.
Sounds wonderful Katie – we love meatloaf in this household. A new recipe to try!
Sometimes all you need is the idea…and bacon.
Yum, I love meatloaf. My children hated it, I must have been doing something wrong !!!
We haven’t had a meat loaf since arriving here in June -that has given me an idea for next week.
I thought of you this afternoon, Katie, when I saw fresh cranberries for the first time in my life at G.F. in Bergerac and your previous postings about Thanksgiving sprung to mind! To me they looked a bit on the under ripe side and I opted to get some Persimmons instead. I don’t think they will be exactly like the “Sharon ” fruit we are used to. These came from Spain but there is an empty house close to us with one in the garden – it is laden with fruit but entirely encircled with ronces and spiny acacia trees. We may end up planting our own tree.
Ina, it was good, and really easy. – but use the bacon.
Tanna, duly noted…. Bacon!
kate, they hated meatloaf?!?!?! I always had to make extra so they could have meatloaf sandwiches – which some say is the best part.
Gill I don’t think there is such a thing as under-ripe cranberries 😉 It’s a strange fruit – inedible raw. I hope they still have some this week as I plan on going up to get some. Persimmons are quite common around here but I’m not very familiar with them – other than I know there are 2 types. Guess I should learn!