Neapolitan Meatloaf
Neapolitan cuisine (from Naples in Italy) is well know for the simplicity of its ingredients which at the same time are nutritious. Good cuts of meat are not part of this cuisine but poor cuts frequently appear.
This meatloaf recipe is supremely delicious and also the most appealing, as far as looks are concerned, of all the meatloaves we have seen.
400g / 14oz Minced pork
400g / 14oz Minced beef
Half a red sweet pepper
Two celery sticks
150g / 5oz Parmesan cheese
2 slices stale bread without crust (see Advice for Neapolitan Meatloaf below)
Half a glass semi-skimmed milk
Three tablespoons (half if using dried) fresh parsley chopped
8 medium eggs (see Advice for Neapolitan Meatloaf below)
Six rashers streaky bacon
One teaspoon olive oil
Basil - one tablespoon chopped fresh or half a tablespoon dried
Oregano - one tablespoon chopped fresh or half a tablespoon dried
Salt and pepper to taste
Top and tail some of the "white" from each hard boiled egg when they have cooled. See the section "Advice for Neapolitan Meatloaf' below.
Grease the inside of the loaf tin with butter or oil.
Line the baking tray with oven proof paper.
Finely chop the celery and sweet red pepper (remove pith and seeds first).
Finely chop the parsley.
Finely chop the fresh basil and oregano if using fresh herbs.
Grate the parmesan cheese.
Break up the stale bread into small pieces. Soak in milk for 15 seconds and pour away the excess milk.
Lightly whisk the remaining two eggs.
Preheat the oven to 190°C / fan 170°C / 375°F / Gas Mark 5.
If you have no stale bread then take two slices of fresh bread before doing anything else and very lightly toast it for 30 seconds. Break it into small pieces and leave to one side whilst preparing the other ingredients. It will very quickly harden to "stale" bread.
Our recipe uses a meat loaf or bread tin (see pictures below). This helps to keep the meat loaf in a nice oblong shape. But if you don't have a meatloaf tin then simply place the meatloaf mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. The meat loaf will give off a lot of liquid during cooking so be sure to use a baking tray which is a couple of centimetres deep to catch the liquid.
This recipe uses six hard boiled eggs but it can also be cooked with four hard boiled eggs. If using six eggs then we top and tail the eggs so that some of the just white portion is removed. Doing it this way means that almost every slice will have a portion of the hard boiled yolk in it! It looks good that way and saves arguments about who gets the portions with the hard boiled yolk in it.
Medium eggs are the best size although small eggs will be fine. Do not use large eggs.
This recipe is delicious served hot or cold. If served hot, the flavour is enhanced by smothering it in a very simple tomato sauce. It is delicious served cold with a salad or on a piece of toast.
Cold Neapolitan meat loaf can be spiced up with a spicy salsa and also makes an ideal tapa when cubed and served on a cocktail stick. It will keep in a good fridge (cooked) for three or four days. But take it out of the fridge for half an hour before serving to bring it to room temperature; serving at room temperature greatly improves the flavour.
We also have another meatloaf recipe which you might like try, it can be found by clicking here.
Recipe by David Marks.
Place all the ingredients, except the bacon, into a large bowl and mix together for a few minutes with your hands until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Hands on and get mucky, there is no other way to do this!
Uncooked mixture
Place about 2cm of the meat loaf mixture into the meat loaf tin / baking tray and then gently firm in the hard boiled eggs centrally on top in a row. Fill around the edges with more of the meat loaf mixture and then place the remainder of the mixture evenly around and on the top. Very gently firm it all down. Place in the pre-heated oven for one hour.
Remove the Neapolitan meatloaf from the oven and carefully pour away any of the fat. Place the rashers of streaky bacon evenly on top of the meatloaf and place back in the oven at the same temperature for 30 minutes. The bacon will stop the top of the meatloaf from drying out.
Take the meatloaf from the oven and again carefully drain off any remaining fat. Place under a hot grill for a minute or so until the streaky bacon has crisped up. Leave it to stand for 15 minutes. If you want to eat it cool then leave it to stand for an hour. It can be kept in the fridge for a day or so but take it from the fridge and keep at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Unsliced Neapolitan Meatloaf