Polpettone
Polpettone
Meatloaf
Sicilians are all about polpettoni. The literal translation is “big meatballs,” but they’re really more like a meatloaf. Thanks to the Sicilian penchant for visually arresting food, they don’t waste an opportunity to make an ornate cross-section by packing ground meat around vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, and other fillings that contrast with the browned meat. The Sicilian approach to hard-boiling eggs is to simmer them until their yolks are chalky, with gray halos. As the descendant of many Sicilians, I like such criminally overcooked eggs. But if you prefer a yellow, just-set yolk, place the eggs in a small pot with about ½ inch of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 6 minutes. Run under cold water and peel carefully.
Ingredients (16)
Ingredients (16)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the stale bread in a medium bowl and pour over the milk. Set aside to allow the milk to be absorbed, about 20 minutes, then drain, squeezing out and discarding excess liquid.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over a high heat. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set it nearby. Salt the boiling water until it tastes like a seasoned soup, then add the green beans and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer to the ice bath to cool. Drain and set aside.
Transfer the soaked bread to a large bowl. Add the pork, veal, eggs, caciocavallo, parsley, 5 gratings of nutmeg, and cinnamon and season with salt and pepper. Knead the mixture together by hand, taking care not to overwork it, until combined.
Oil a medium casserole and line a work surface with a sheet of parchment paper. On the parchment, form the meat mixture into a rectangle measuring about 12 by 8 inches and about ¼ inch thick.
Lay the prosciutto over the ground meat, leaving about 1 inch of one long edge uncovered, then top the prosciutto with the provolone. Lay the green beans over the provolone. Slice off the short ends of the hard-boiled eggs and discard (jk, just eat them). Set the eggs over the green beans about 1 inch from the covered long edge of the rectangle, placing them so their trimmed ends are touching each other.
Using the parchment, roll the meat mixture around the filling, forming a long tube with the hard-boiled eggs at the center.
Pinch the seam closed along the long edge, then pinch the short ends closed. Place the roll in the prepared casserole. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through.
Increase the oven heat to 450ºF, remove the foil, and bake until browned, 5 to 10 minutes more.
Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
This recipe is part of the Food of the Italian Islands digital cookbook, and is only available once you've purchased the cookbook.
Purchase ($25.00)
