I’ve been meaning to make this recipe for a while, and since it got cold out again I figured that I could just revert to cold weather food again for a day. The recipe is almost a combination lasagna (with ricotta and such) and meatloaf, then all rolled up and sliced. I served it with wild rice and a tomato-y sauce, but you could also serve it truly Italian with pasta, or go the other way with a brown sauce or glaze.
Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef (90-93%)
6 ounces ground pork or ground Italian sausage (casings removed)
1 large red onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup ricotta
8 ounces frozen spinach, defrosted then squeezed to remove the water
3 tablespoons ready made pesto
a handful of pine nuts
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Sea salt and black pepper
1 egg, whisked
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
8-10 strips bacon (enough to wrap the loaf)
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350F. Prep a bread loaf pan with a bit of cooking spray.
In a small sauce pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil until just shimmering. Add the onions and sauté for around 10 minutes until softened, adding the pine nuts during the last few minutes. Set aside to cool in a large mixing bowl. Once cooled, add the onion and pine nut mixture the parmesan, ricotta, spinach and pesto, and mix together thoroughly.
In another large mixing bowl add the meats and mix together by hand thoroughly. Add salt, the nutmeg, oregano, breadcrumbs, egg and a generous grind of black pepper and continue to mix for a few minutes, until all the flavors are evenly combined. Set aside.
Lay out a large sheet of plastic wrap / cling film in front of you and turn out the meat mixture on to it, patting it down lightly until it’s a large rectangle in front of you, just under 1/2 inch thick. On the top of the meat add the ricotta mixture and spread it out over the meat until its covered the meat to every edge. Lift up the shorter edge of the plastic wrap and gently tuck the meat over into a roll (like when you are rolling up cinnamon buns) tucking and rolling until it’s all wrapped up, making sure that the seam is sealed. Be careful not to roll the plastic wrap inside obviously… it doesn’t taste good! [grin]
Carefully take hold of each end and gently tuck them under a little while popping it into the prepared loaf pan. Drape the bacon strips over the top of the loaf and place into the preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 155F on an instant-read thermometer. If the bacon gets too crispy or dark, place aluminum foil over the top for the last 10 minutes or so. Let rest for a minimum of 10 minutes before slicing.
