This is the polpettone that my friend Carolina’s mother used to make and now Carolina makes – an easy one- pot wonder I absolutely love. They sometimes stuff their polpettone, flattening out the meatloaf mixture on baking parchment and adding maybe two slices of ham and either four cubes of provolone or cheddar cheese or two peeled boiled eggs. I like Carolina’s Meatloaf, but feel free to play around with filling.
Carolina’s Meatloaf Recipe
Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour, plus resting time
Ingredients:
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) beef mince, organic if possible
2 organic eggs
Handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to serve
2 garlic cloves, grated
4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
Big handful of grated parmesan or Grana Padano
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sauce
Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
A few thyme sprigs, leaves picked
1 garlic clove, grated
1 glass red wine
2 × 400 g (14 oz) tins of peeled plum tomatoes
400 g (14 oz) tin butter or cannellini beans, drained
Method:
Put the beef in a large bowl and use the end of a wooden spoon or your hands to break up the meat. Crack the eggs in and mix together. Add the parsley, garlic, breadcrumbs, grated cheese and a generous amount of salt and black pepper. Bring together either with your hands or a spoon, not working the mixture too much, or the polpettone will be quite dense when cooked.
Tip the mixture onto a large piece of baking parchment. If you are making a plain polpettone, lift the sides of the parchment and roll the polpettone into a log, patting the ends to smooth them out. (If you are putting fillings inside, flatten the meat, lay the ham across the centre, arrange the cheese or egg on top, then roll the meat into a log around the filling.) Once you’re happy with the shape, roll the baking parchment around the polpettone. Transfer to the fridge while you prepare the sauce (or even overnight if you prefer).
Heat a few glugs of olive oil in a flameproof casserole dish, then add the onion, carrot, thyme leaves and a pinch of salt. Stir and leave to sweat over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, then stir in the garlic and cook for a few more minutes.
Pour in the wine, turn the heat up to high, then leave the alcohol to evaporate for 5 minutes. Stir in the tinned tomatoes and a generous pinch of salt, breaking up the whole tomatoes with the end of a wooden spoon. Half-fill each tomato tin with water, swirl it around and pour the tomatoey water into the dish, stirring it in. Cook, uncovered, over a medium heat for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) fan-forced.
Unwrap the polpettone and place it in the dish, on top of the sauce. Ladle or spoon some of the sauce over the meatloaf, then transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 160°C (315°F) and bake the meatloaf for another 25 minutes.
Add the beans to the pan and stir them through the tomato sauce. Bake for a further 15 minutes.
Remove the meatloaf from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes or so, before serving in slices topped with the sauce, beans and an extra sprinkling of parsley.
Winter in Tuscany by Amber Guinness, published by Thames & Hudson Australia, AUD $64.99 / NZD $69.99, published 2 September 2025. Images © Valentina Solfrini.
