Nonna's Italian Meatloaf (Polpettone)

5 from 5 vote

Nonna's Italian Meatloaf (Polpettone)

Nonna’s Italian Meatloaf Recipe (Polpettone) is an authentic Italian meatloaf that’s wonderful to enjoy all year round! It is simple, fast, and it’s a delicious dish to enjoy when you are craving Italian comfort food. The perfect weeknight meal!

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Total Time1 5

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: comfort food, meatloaf, polpettone

Servings: servings

Calories: 435kcal

Author: Lora

Equipment

1 Mixing Bowl
1 baking tray

Ingredients

1½ pounds ground beef (I used grass fed)
3 small onions , peeled and sliced in half (plus one 1/2 chopped for the meatloaf mix)
1 small zucchini , chopped in small pieces
2 carrots , peeled and sliced into long pieces
3 small potatoes , peeled and cut into pieces
½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley (just the leaves)
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary , chopped
1 cup bread crumbs , use your favorite gluten-free crumbs to make it GF
3 eggs , lightly beaten
1 cup grated Grana Padano (or Parmigiano Reggiano)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (add more to taste)
3 hard-boiled eggs , peeled (optional)
½ cup dry white wine optional
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup broth (or a ready-made butternut squash soup)

Instructions

Heat oven: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Prep the zucchini and potatoes: In a small pot of boiling water, boil the zucchini and potatoes. The zucchini will be finished before the other vegetables. Remove the zucchini when it’s tender and set aside in a small bowl.
Combine meatloaf ingredients: In a medium sized bowl, stir together the ground meat, parsley, rosemary, breadcrumbs, chopped onion. Add in the zucchini and one of the potatoes. Add in the eggs, cheese, salt, pepper and rosemary and stir until combined.
Prep large casserole or baking sheet: Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Scoop out 1/2 of the meatloaf mixture and pat it into a rectangle about 9 inches long by 4 inches wide.
Fill with eggs: Line the hard-boiled eggs in the center of the meatloaf. Line up one of the carrots cut into slivers next to the eggs. With your hands add on the rest of the meatloaf mixture and pat it on top covering the eggs. Make sure no parts of the eggs are peaking out.
Place vegetables around meatloaf: Place the rest of the potatoes, carrots and onions around the meat loaf in the pan. Add the wine around the pan and drizzle the olive oil on the meatloaf and around the vegetables.
Bake: Bake for 35-40 minutes in the center rack of the oven (until internal temperature is 150 degrees), basting occasionally with the pan juices.
Let rest when it's ready: Remove the dish from the oven. Transfer the meat loaf to a cutting board, and let it rest for at least 15 minutes.
Make the sauce: Puree with an immersion blender (or in your blender)the vegetables that were in the pan and the juices. I had just made pumpkin soup that day and a added about a 1/4 cup of the soup to the juices from the pan to blend all together. If you don’t have any pumpkin soup on hand, you could add broth or even a little water. Heat the sauce on medium-low before serving.
Slice and serve: Cut into thick slices. Arrange on a serving plate with the sauce on the bottom and serve with mashed potatoes.

Notes

White wine: If you have an open bottle of wine, use a bit of that. Cooking wine is not something I would recommend. If you prefer to not use wine, that is fine!
Eggs: The hard-boiled eggs in middle are optional.
Herbs: The fresh herbs could be mixed up to your taste. Use whatever you have on hand.

Nutrition