The world is a tough place, and life is too short to waste time on pre-ready packaged meals.
For these reasons, I try to turn something as simple as Monday’s lunch or Wednesday’s dinner into an event or to make every day special, even those that start with waking up at dawn.

I counteract daily fatigue with food, investing a little time in organizing grocery shopping and the work of cooking. Usually on weekends, when buying ingredients becomes a family affair, and I even find volunteers to help with preparations. Not that it’s necessary or even required since I love cooking while reflecting alone on the things of life and the day.

Indeed, some dishes more than others encourage reflections, which, at least in my case, range from reviewing the tasks for the next 48 hours to establishing a new world order based on Monica’s rules.

Meatloaf is a recipe requiring minimal attention, leaving thoughts free to flutter around the kitchen.

The home meatloaf

There were two kinds of meatloaf at home: the leftover version and the more refined, event-style version.
While the first type of meatloaf arose from the need to reshape leftovers, the second required the purchase of specific ingredients and a recipe to follow.

Perhaps because, in both cases, the shape remains that of a cylinder to be sliced, I’ve always found it difficult to notice the differences between a humble meatloaf and a deluxe one.

Even when the mixture is nobler than a mere reunion of fridge leftovers, and perhaps there’s a filling to emphasize social differences, I’ve always thought of meatloaf as one of the wisest dishes in home cooking for its ability to keep together ingredients into a flavor more significant than the sum of its parts.

It’s not a dish to be despised, as Pellegrino Artusi wrote (recipe 315, The Science of Cooking and the Art of Eating Well) about my little domestic hero. By the way, meatloaf has an ancient history and most likely predates meatballs since it was already known at medieval tables.

At my house, sometimes meatloaf was called salame matto (crazy salami) when the mixture included steal bread instead of meat. In fact, the one from the cucina povera is probably one of my favorites.

Today’s version is not that whatever I will find in the fridge. I’ve chosen a stuffed version. Suppose you decide to use it to celebrate the beauty of life offered by an anonymous Wednesday, I won’t stop and certainly won’t judge you.

Stuffed meatloaf by Monica

For days, I’ve been craving meatloaf, and more than that, I wanted to get my hands into the mixture. There’s a certain satisfaction in blending the ingredients together.

Usually, I prepare and weigh all the ingredients, then place them, one by one, into a large bowl. Meatloaf is a roomy dish; why use a small bowl? Whenever I use a small one, my hands are clumsy in the limited space, and everything spills out, and I get frustrated.

Come back to my large bowl, I start by breaking the yolks with a fork and gently smashing them here and there, taking my time with no rush. I set the fork down, slip my fingers into the mixture, and knead. At first, I can smell every single component of the new family taking shape. Gradually, the scent becomes more complex and layered.

And even if you might doubt it raw, once cooked, you’ll be sure that meatloaf is one of those rare examples where the final result exceeds the sum of its ingredients.

It’s always a good idea to cook it at least one or two days ahead and store it in the fridge.

You can personalize my stuffed meatloaf recipe with a mixed or different type of ground meat (for the salame matto, check out the recipe on the blog). I chose ground capocollo (pork neck). You may have had pork neck steak, the slightly fatty cut, that’s why I chose it. It loses its fat during cooking, but the mixture remains soft (sometimes, meatloaf turns out a bit dry after being sliced).

As usual, at this point, I can only say buona cucina!
Monica

Here are the recipes dedicated to meatloaf on the blog to give you a sense of my love for it.

Salame matto (fake salami, that time with meat)
Prosciutto cotto meatloaf
Tuna meatloaf of Bologna

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Stuffed meatloaf

That stuffed meatloaf is my version of a classic Italian home recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Stuffed meatloaf

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Servings serves

Ingredients

500 g of ground pork neck
120 g of boiled and mashed potato
70 g of breadcrumbs
50 g of grated Parmesan cheese
5 g of fine salt
20 g of arugula chopped not too finely
1 small whole egg, 60 g

Stuffing

60 g of matchstick-cut carrot
3 small hard-boiled egg

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine and mix the ingredients, first with a fork and then with your hands, until smooth and well blended.
Preheat the oven to 180C /356F degrees (static function).
Place the mixture on a sheet of baking paper and, using your hands, give it a cylindrical shape, although it is still imperfect.
With your hands, make a space in the center where you will place the carrots, lightly pushing them with your fingers. The eggs you only have to lay (see photo below).
Still, with your hands, close the meat over the filling and help yourself with the baking paper; give it a cylindrical shape. Wrap the meatloaf in the sheet of paper and bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes.
Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it cool before removing the baking paper and grease from the baking sheet.
Cut the meatloaf into approximately 1 cm slices if serving immediately; otherwise, wrap in foil and store in the refrigerator for two days.
Reheat the sliced meatloaf in a hot oven by covering the pan or serving at room temperature.