Sunday Kitchen Prep

Here are some photos of the prep for tomorrow's dinner. My mother called today to tell us the snow has made parking on their road impossible, so we're not getting together for dinner tomorrow. Hence, the Sunday meal will be at home. We are having a reception in the rectory after the TLM tomorrow, and I'm bringing tea sandwiches this time because they're easy for people to eat without making a mess and they're pretty easy for me to make. Therefore, I wanted to get an early start on tomorrow's dinner, which is going to be polpettone di carne or meatloaf that is rolled up. I learned to make this from Maryann Esposito on Ciao Italia one sleepy Saturday afternoon. What follows is my own version. It takes a bit more prep than your standard meatloaf, but it's well worth it. You'll need:

2 1/2 lbs Meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and veal)
2 eggs
1 cup of chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots
6 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped parsley
salt and pepper
1 cup grated pecorino romano

1/4 lb prosciutto
1 cup grated Fontina or mozzarella cheese
2 medium sized baking potatoes, cooked and skinned, ready to be put through a ricer
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine


It helps to have a large cookie pan covered with a long piece of waxed paper. You'll see why. Mix the first 8 ingredients together. Then take the potatoes and put add them to the mix by putting them through a ricer and then mixing the riced potatoes loosely into the meat. Next, take the mixture and place on the waxed paper-covered cookie sheet. Shape into a nice rectangle, as shown in the pictures. Next, lay strips of prosciutto, single layer at a time, and then top the prosciutto with the shredded Fontina or mozzarella. Take one end of the waxed paper and use it to roll the meat into a loaf, as shown. If you're going to cook this at a later time, wrap it tightly in tin foil and refrigerate. If you're going to bake it right away, heat the oven to 350. Set the loaf in a baking dish deep enough to hold the meat plus the chicken broth and wine. Bake uncovered approximately 60-90 minutes, depending on your oven. I use a meat thermometer to make sure it's cooked before removing it from the oven.

Hopefully, I'll remember to take photos of the finished product. I like this recipe because it calls for carrots, and it's a sneaky way of getting the kids to eat vegetables. Using potato instead of breadcrumbs also gives the meatloaf a unique taste. I brought the leftovers into work at my previous job and had people ask me to make this for them for special occasions. When I had the time, I did. One of these days I'm going to substitute soperasata for the prosciutto and see how that turns out.

One of the charms of living in South Philadelphia is that when you walk through the neighborhood on Sunday morning, you can't help but notice a certain aroma in the air. That would be the scent of meatballs being fried and tomato gravy being cooked. (Remember, calling it sauce in these parts is akin to a sacrilege). I grew up eating "gravy" every Sunday, and it's almost always what my mother serves, so when we can have dinner at home, I like to mix things up a bit. The side tomorrow may very well be gnocchi in a shitake cream sauce again. Stay tuned!