THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019
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30
L'Italo-Americano
Easy to make and tasty: polpettone di prosciutto con asparagus
LA BUONA TAVOLA
RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES
MICHELE BECCI
Continued to page 32
Meatloaf Italian style: polpettone al
prosciutto con asparagi
I
tend to shy away from mak-
ing meatloaf at home. Grow-
ing up, my mother made
meatloaf
a lot. In fact, she
made it almost every
Wednesday. Now, she was an
amazing cook but truth be told,
her meatloaf was simply awful.
We
would scatter to our friend's
homes for dinner whenever we
knew that her meatloaf was in the
oven for dinner. She could turn
out a mean platter of homemade
pasta
with her neighborhood-fa-
mous meatballs but a delicious,
moist meatloaf somehow always
alluded her. (I am sure it had a lot
to do with having to put in a full
day's
work, and then come home
to figure out how to quickly throw
dinner together for her hungry
family).
Finally I was swayed by a re-
cent
issue of the Italian cooking
magazine Sale&Pepe, which fea-
tured a multi-page spread of beau-
tiful rolled meats and roasts
stuffed with all sorts of gorgeous
in-season veggies. It was their
photo of a beautifully rolled meat-
loaf stuffed with spring veggies
that finally won me over. It was
time to adjust my anti-meatloaf
attitude.
Here I have used a mixture of
veal, pork and beef: feel free to
use all beef but be sure it isn't too
lean to keep the meatloaf moist.
The addition of prosciutto as a
layer within is genius.The fat of
the prosciutto melts into the meat
as the meatloaf cooks helping
keep it wonderfully moist on the
inside. One tip – given the impor-
tance of seasoning for the meat –
after the meatloaf is mixed, I like
to pinch off a small piece and fry
it up in a pan to taste the season-
ing. Gives you an opportunity to
adjust the seasonings to be sure
you got them just right. I typically
do this when making meatballs as
well.
The result is a really tasty
meatloaf that offers a beautiful
presentation when sliced – a meat-
loaf not only worthy of a weekday
family meal but of your next din-
ner party, too!
Buon appetito,
Michele
Polpettone al prosciutto con
asparagi
Adapted from Sale&Pepe, May
2019
Ingredients:
1 bunch asparagus (about 10
stalks)
½ cup plain, dry breadcrumbs
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
The addition of prosciutto around the meatloaf really makes a difference
