Meatloaf with hard boiled eggs is a real crowd pleaser. It is moist, tender, satisfying, and comforting, and when eaten hot, it will warm you up body and soul. It is equally delicious cold, and it makes a fantastic starter. Slices of leftover meatloaf are a great sandwich filler, and it is also brilliant to take on picnics, as it transports very well.

This dish is made with minced beef and pork combined with stale pieces of bread previously softened in milk, fresh parsley, marjoram, onions, garlic, salt and pepper, it is then shaped in a log and cooked. It has a rustic appearance from the outside but when you cut through it, it looks quite elegant and sophisticated, presenting itself quite cheffy, elaborate and complicated to make, but this meatloaf dish could not be easier to prepare.

Nowadays, this dish might be considered and perceived to be a regular family midweek meal, or a weekend dinner, but this was not always the case. In fact, my nona told me that in Slovenian Istra, meatloaf stuffed with hard boiled eggs was exclusively reserved for festivities and to celebrate special occasions. To make it extra special finely chopped pancetta would be added to the meat mix and it could also be baked wrapped inside bread dough, almost resembling Beef Wellington. Another way of cooking the meatloaf is wrapping it in a cloth and boiling it in plenty of simmering water.

This dish is called Polpeton by the locals, a dialect word clearly influenced by the neighbouring Italian Polpettone, which has numerous regional variations from North to South of Italy.

Regardless of what it is called, Polpettone in Italian, or Polpeton in Istrian , they both showcase a very humble but creative way of using stale bread or breadcrumbs, the latter one, once again, being home made from old bread.

The Istrian meatloaf distinguishes itself from the others by adding fresh or dry marjoram, a herb very commonly grown along the Slovenian coast, and characterizes quite specifically many savoury dishes in Istrian cooking, offering distinctive flavour.

I am sharing here my nona's recipe for this delicious meat loaf which is traditionally served and enjoyed with sone oven roasted potatoes, a selection of vegetables and a side salad.

This is easier to make than it looks, give it a go, it will become one of your favourite recipes for meatloaves, and you will be asked to share the recipe by your family and friends.

Recipe

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

250g minced beef
250g minced pork
2 soft white baps or some stale bread (roughly 120g)
150ml milk
1 Tbsp marjoram (fresh or dry), finely chopped
a handful of fresh flat leaf parsley (about 12g), finely chopped
1 onion (about 100g), peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and pressed
1 egg, slightly beaten
4 eggs, hard boiled and peeled
sea salt
black pepper

Oven baked potatoes (optional)

500g potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
extra virgin olive oil, generous drizzle
sea salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C or equivalent.

Cut or tear with your hands white baps (or any other type of stale bread you are using) into small pieces and put them into a bowl. Pour over the milk, mix well and leave to soak for a few minutes until the bread is completely softened (if necessary squeeze out gently with your hands excessive milk).

While the bread is soaking in milk, prepare the meat mixture.

Put both minced beef and minced pork in a fairly large bowl. Add finely chopped onions, crashed garlic, finely chopped fresh parsley and marjoram, lightly beaten egg, generous pinch of sea salt, black pepper and softened pieces of bread.

With your hand mix very well all the ingredients, almost using a squeezing action, to thoroughly combine the mixture (if you end up with bigger bread pieces just break them with your fingers).

Transfer the meat mixture onto a large sheet of baking parchment (roughly the size of your baking tray) and flatten it with your hands into an approximate 30x25cm (12 x 10 inch) rectangle.

Place 4 whole hard boiled eggs in a row, along the centre and form the meatloaf around the eggs using the baking parchment.

Press it gently to seal any seams, and tuck well the edges.

Transfer the meat loaf, seam side down (together with the baking parchment) on to a baking tray.

Place cubed potatoes around the meatloaf, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season with sea salt and black pepper to taste. With your hands arrange them in a single layer and mix and toss so all the cubed potatoes are evenly coated in olive oil and the seasoning.

Bake at180C static or equivalent for 60 minutes.

Halfway through baking, check the colour of the meatloaf, if it is browning too much, tent it with some aluminium foil to prevent it from browning too much and starting to burn.

When baked, cover the meat loaf with the aluminium foil to keep it warm and allow it to rest for a bit before slicing it.

Just a thought

Meatloaf will keep in the fridge, in an airtight container, for about 3-4 days. Best reheat it in a microwave, covered.

Before baking the meatloaf you can “dress it up” by topping it with overlapping slices of pancetta giving it that additional festive look and flavour.

Wine suggestion

Chianti Colli Senesi DOCG 2021 - Poliziano

This exquisite recipe is so easy and quick to prepare you can hardly call it a recipe. It consist of gently boiling the asparagus and dress them with oil, sea salt and pepper to allow the delicate and mild sweet taste of white asparagus to be fully enhanced and appreciated. Asparagus prepared this way can be served as a starter, main course or as a side dish and is a great meal for vegetarians.

White asparagus grow with the absence of sunlight which prevents the photosynthesis to take place and therefore stops the asparagus turning green in colour.

Back home, where I come from, on the Slovenian coast, this dish, (Beli beluši s trdo kuhanimi jajci / Beli šparglji s trdo kuhanimi jajci) among other asparagus dishes, is very popular during the fairly short asparagus season and the locals make the best of it.

My nona shared with me a very touching story about white asparagus. She very modestly confessed to me that when she was a little girl, her father was the first farmer in the village (Marezige), and the first in the surrounding area to grow white asparagus. She also told me the story that when the asparagus were almost ready to be harvested, he would guard them during the night as these vegetables were very precious source of income for the family and were almost never consumed for domestic use. Only a very small amount of the asparagus, the ones that broke during the harvest, were used by the family for cooking, and this was a real treat for everyone.

White asparagus were, and still are, more difficult and more laborious to grow, therefore they fetch a higher price when they are sold on the market. The asparagus would be taken by my great grandmother to Trieste, just across the border, a big port city with Imperial style cafes, and important theatres where a fairly high number of wealthy noble families used to live, families that could easily afford to buy this type of vegetable and appreciate its gastronomic use.

My nona also told me that the locals used to say that the white asparagus were so cherished they were considered to be vegetable fit for the queen.

Even nowadays, white asparagus, although more accessible, are still pricier compared to the green ones, and they are enjoyed as a “festive food” especially around Easter celebrations when they are in season.

There is a very close geographical proximity between my home town and the Italian region of Veneto, where this flavoursome and elegant dish is typical, (Asparagi bianchi con uova sode alla Veneta) and where in the foothills of the town of Bassano, and along the whole stretch of the river Brenta, the best, renowned, plump white asparagus are produced in terms of size and flavour.

I am sharing here this simple and very much loved family recipe which traditionally calls for white asparagus, and is a very much anticipated vegetable in the spring season. However, if you have difficulty buying them, then just use green asparagus, the dish will be equally delicious.