ITALIAN LAYERED MEAT-AND-POTATO LOAF WITH ROASTED TOMATOES

Italian Layered Meat-and-potato Loaf With Roasted Tomatoes image

This is a slightly different take on meatloaf, and when you prepare the tomatoes (their garlicy-olive oil taste make a very complementary combination) as well you've got an entire delicious meal. I think the only thing really "Italian" about this dish is the red/white/green color combination (as found in the Italian flag) that you get from the ingredients, but I've left the name as I found it on some now un-remembered website. Warning: this is a recipe for people who don't mind using their hands . . .

Provided by FlemishMinx

Categories Potato

Time 1h5m

Yield 8 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 18

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Ingredients

500 g potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons milk
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 red chili pepper, chopped (deseeded or not, your choice)
1 clove garlic, peeled,and chopped
750 g ground pork or 750 g ground veal (preferably equal parts of the three)
3/4 cup white breadcrumb
1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
6 -8 spinach leaves, washed,dried,stems and tough bits removed
2 tablespoons honey
8 tomatoes (1 for each person being served)
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (1/2 clove for each tomato being prepared)
olive oil, for drizzling
salt, for sprinkling

Steps:

Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
FOR THE MEATLOAF:.
Boil potatoes till tender; drain.
Add milk and salt and pepper to taste; potatoes should still be pretty dry, but hold together enough to work with in a later step.
While the potatoes are boiling, add oil to a frying pan and saute the onion, pepper, and garlic till tender, but not brown (about 3-5 minutes); take off heat and allow to cool.
In a large bowl, combine the onion mix, minced meat, breadcrumbs, basil and egg; add salt and pepper to taste and mix very well (use your hands).
Place half of the meat mixture in a baking dish, shaping it into a rather wide loaf with a flattened top (since you will be stacking the other ingredients above).
Take half of the mashed potatoes, and make a level layer of them above the meat base (once again, hands work best).
Cover the potato layer with the spinach leaves.
Cover the spinach with the mozzarella, again making a level layer.
Cover this with the remaining potatoes, once again leveling.
Finish off with the remaining meat, molding and shaping it to not only cover the top, but down the sides as needed to keep the stacks together.
Bake for 20 minutes, glaze the top with honey, and continue baking for 20 to 25 more minutes.
Allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing.
FOR THE TOMATOES:.
Just as you are placing the meatloaf in the oven, wash tomatoes, and slice in half horizontally.
Remove the pips and juices with your fingers.
Sprinkle the tomato cavities with salt, then turn them upside down on a paper towel (this will help remove extra juices which would tend to make them mushy when baking).
After fifteen minutes, place the tomato halves right side up on a non-stick baking sheet.
Place the garlic slivers in the tomato cavities (at least two per cavity) and drizzle with olive oil (to taste, but I recommend about 1/2 tsp per tomato).
At the time that you glaze the meatloaf with the honey, place the tomatoes in the oven (thus, bake for 20-25 minutes).