Description
If you follow my blog, you would already know that I am always on the hunt for a great meatloaf recipe. This one does not disappoint!
Scale
Ingredients
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 cups day-old bread crumbs
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 lb. Circle B Ranch ground pork
- 2 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
- ¾ lb. drained fresh ricotta, plus more for sauce
- 1 bunch scallions (about 1 cup)
- 1/3 cup grated grana Padano
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ lb. fresh Mozzarella, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4–5 cups Marina’s Italian Style Tomato Sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Pour the milk over the bread crumbs in a bowl, and let soak for a few minutes, until the bread is saturated. Squeeze the soft bread a handful at a time, pressing out as much milk as you can (discard milk). Then tear bread into small pieces and toss back into bowl.
- Crumble ground beef into the bowl, then add eggs, ricotta, scallions, grated cheese, parsley, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Fold and toss everything together, and squeeze the mixture a few times between your fingers to distribute all the ingredients evenly.
- Scatter the Mozzarella cubes on top, and fold and mush them throughout the loaf mix.
- Brush a 17×10-inch baking pan with 2 Tbsp. of olive oil. Gather the meat mixture in the bowl, turn it into the pan, and shape it into a fat oval loaf. Drizzle with the remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Cover the pan with a foil-tent so it doesn’t touch the meat. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the meatloaf is browned all over and completely cooked through, another 1 hour and 30 minutes or so (internal temp should be 160°). Remove loaf from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Heat the tomato sauce to a simmer in a saucepan as the meat rests. Turn off the heat, and, if you would like, stir in ½ cup of fresh ricotta into the sauce.
- Cut the loaf crosswise in the pan or on a cutting board, in the preferred thickness. Serve on warm dinner plates, topped with a spoonful or two of sauce.
Notes
- For even more flavor, pass around the extra sauce at the table! If you love ricotta, you can also stir more into the tomato sauce just before serving.
