il polpettone
It’s intriguing that so much of the world readily links Southern Italy with meatballs but then is surprised to learn about the presence of our meatloaf, when the only thing that really changes is the size. If you’re new to Romance languages, you might be interested to learn that you could translate ‘meatball’, as tiny ‘meatloaf’, and ‘meatloaf’, as giant ‘meatball’, the suffix of each revealing the size. This is clearly a special occasion dish, as much of the ingredients are imported from other regions. You could argue that this is a poor person’s way of synthesising a full joint of meat, out of the poorer cuts, stretched with humble breadcrumbs. And like that joint of meat, the portioning and sharing of large and communal, the way that individual meatballs do not. Don’t think that more meat is better here, as it’s the bread and milk that keep these tender.
Ingredients
Lean meat, 75% pork and 25% beef, minced or ground twice. Any butcher will be thrilled to do this for you. Mention the recipe and he or she will likely become part of the mission.
Bread crumbs, dry-finely ground, about 1/3 of the weight of the meat.
2 Eggs per kilo of meat.
Milk. Half a litre per kilo of meat.
Parmigiano, finely grated Salt,
Black pepper Spicy salami, sliced then. Scamorza, or other soft-melting cheese, preferably smoked.
Parchment paper, or a silicone baking mat.
Directions
Preheat oven as hot as it goes.
Mix the meat, breadcrumbs, Parmigiano, salt and pepper in large bowl. For 1 kg of meat, we use 100g of Parmigiano, 2 eggs and then begin to add milk to soften. You want the mixture to be very wet and heavy with milk, as the breadcrumbs will continue to absorb the liquid.
Place parchment paper or baking mat on a sheet pan.
Take 2/3 of the mixture, compose a trough, but closed at the top and bottom. (It should look like a tall, narrow picture frame). You want the bottom and walls to be at least twice as thick as your thumb.
Line the trough with half of the spicy salami, then fill it the hole with the cheese cut up the size of thumb knuckles. Cover with more spicy salami and then close the trough with remaining meat mixture. Push in the sides to make the form as tidy as possible, with the sides as vertical as possible, which will facilitate even baking.
Bake for 4o minutes at the oven’s hottest temperature and then using a metal skewer or- very carefully- with the point of a knife, insert it into the fattest part and count to three. Pull it out and touch your lip (or inner wrist). If it’s hot inside it’s ready. If not return to oven until it is.
Lift out, douse with raw extra virgin and serve on your largest platter.
Do this right and you’ll earn applause at your next dinner party.
Wine: A lighter red would be appropriate. If you up the black pepper, so would a syrah /shiraz. Don’t over spend on the wine though, as it will never outshine the brilliance of il polpettone.
