This Italian style meat roll is seasoned minced beef stuffed with ham and cheese, then glazed with tomato sauce.
This recipe was inspired by my friend Joan, who is a fantastic cook with an open mind. She worked in the Detroit-Windsor auto sector along with coworkers from a variety of ethnic groups and spoke fondly of how they would exchange recipes.
When Joan offered make us dinner one day, she served what she called Italian Stuffed Meatloaf; a recipe she got from an Italian coworker. Everybody thought it was amazing and I just loved how she had elevated the mundane meatloaf to the epicurean realm.
Today there remains a vibrant Italian community in the Windsor-Essex region. You can experience some authentic Italian cuisine with a visit to Via Italia, the biggest Little Italy business district in the region.
Sicilian Stuffed Meat Roll
Ingredients
Meat Mixture
- 1½ lbs. lean ground beef
- ¾ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- ½ cup finely chopped white onion
- 1 garlic clove finely minced
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp dry onion soup mix
- ¼ cup chili sauce
- ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp oregano
- ¼ tsp anise
- ¼ tsp crushed dried chilies
- ½ cup passata or crushed tomato for the glaze
Filling
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 2-3 thin slices Prosciutto Cotto cooked ham
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a large bowl, combine mixture ingredients
- Evenly roll out the mixture onto plastic wrap or wax paper making a ½ inch layer
- Make a second layer with the ham slices
- Spread out the cheese as the third layer
- Roll up the layers as a jelly roll with the help of the wrap/paper underneath
- Close the ends and form into a loaf shape
- Spray a broiler rack with non-stick spray then place loaf onto rack
- Coat loaf with the passata or tomato sauce
- Add a little water to the bottom of the broiler tray
- Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes
- Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving
Notes
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