I Did Something Weird To My Minestrone, Plus I Hope You’ll Never Make Meatloaf The Same Way Again

On the weekends, I like to have lots of leftovers for Hand me to snack on. I had meatloaf in the fridge AND I had made a big pot of minestrone the day before. While I was heating up the soup, I got a hankering for a bit of meatloaf. Instead of having it separately, I just cubed it up and added it to my steaming cup of minestrone. No additional heating up was necessary. 

It was soooo delicious and it was such an excellent combination. It was very Italian Wedding Soup-like without all the greens…and with a lot more vegetables. All the bits and pieces that were in the meatloaf (see below) went together beautifully with the huge (but easily sourced) list of minestrone ingredients.

Here’s how to make both:

Years ago, my friend Adrew my attention to the extraordinary meatloaf in the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook. I can’t believe I had never noticed this recipe before. It wasn’t what was IN the meatloaf that intrigued me, but HOW it was shaped. It was patted out into a large rectangle, topped with sundried tomatoes, large leaves of basil and slices of smoked mozzarella. Then it was ROLLED UP like a jellyroll. And when you cut it, it had yummy swirls of pretty stuff in each slice. (The ends of the meatloaf look a little swirl-less in this picture, but the middle was quite attractive.)

Those spiral slices are really special, and any meatloaf would be enhanced with a layer of savory goodness in the middle. Lately I’ve been chopping things up from the olive bar - sundried tomatoes, baby (pitted) olives and those cute cubes of feta and using that as my filling.

In the meatloaf itself, I often use what I have handy or leftover – sometimes it’s brown rice, or crumbs made from the heels of oldish bread. (Fresh bread crumbs are fine too, as are Progresso’s.) I’ve also used finely chopped nuts in place of or in addition to the bread crumbs or rice. And I always add shredded zucchini and carrots and chopped onions.

Why do I add all of this to my meatloaf? Because I am 100% trying to stretch the meat as much as possible and increase the ratio of the other ingredients to the meat.

My Meatloaf

(with kudos to the Silver Palate’s Italian Meatloaf)

MEATLOAF:

1 medium zucchini

2 medium carrots, peeled

1 large onion, chopped finely

2 pounds ground beef (sirloin works, chuck gives great flavor)

1 egg

2 cups bread crumbs, dried or fresh and/or leftover brown rice

½ cup ketchup

½ cup parsley, finely chopped

FILLING:

1½ cups chopped sundried tomatoes, pitted olives, feta, halloumi or whatever appeals to you from the olive bar.

MIXED WITH

½ cup parsley and/or basil, finely chopped

OR go with the classic and use basil leaves, whole sundried tomatoes and slices of any type of mozzarella

Plus:

4 Yukon gold potatoes, halved and sliced

1 secret ingredient, which is in the body of the recipe

Shred zucchini and carrots with shredding blade of food processor. Place in large bowl with all the other meatloaf ingredients.

Using clean hands, mix meatloaf ingredients together. Mix well, but don’t squeeze the life out of everything. Place two big sheets of plastic wrap on the counter, overlapping to give you a big rectangle. Place meatloaf mixture in middle and pat into a large rectangle.  Spoon over sundried tomato and parsley mixture leaving about an inch border all around. From the short side, roll up the meatloaf, using the plastic wrap to help, and place in a roasting pan, which has been sprayed with nonstick spray.

Surround the meatloaf with the sliced potatoes and spoon half a can or more of condensed tomato soup over the top. Serve whatever is leftover in the can separately. (This is a trick from H’s mother, which shocked me at first. I tried it years ago and I never skip it now. I buried it in the recipe, so you wouldn’t judge me.) 

Note: If canned soup appalls you too much (I do understand), take a small can of diced tomatoes and put it in a glass bowl. Microwave on high for 3 minutes and you’ll get a nicely thickened, chunky tomato pureé that’s also good for the top of the meatloaf.

Bake at 375°F*for one hour, turning the potatoes once during baking.

* You may bake meatloaf at any temperature from 350°F to 400°F without incident. If you need the oven at another temperature, the meatloaf will understand. One hour is about right, but I suppose at 400°F you could check the potatoes and the temp of the meat after 45 minutes. The internal temperature of the meatloaf should 160°F.

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It's only the list of ingredients here that's lengthy. Once you've gathered and chopped up everything, it's easy to proceed. Leave out any vegetables you don’t like, or add in any you love.  

My Minestrone  

2 onions, sliced

¼ green cabbage, sliced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

olive oil

handful of white mushrooms, sliced

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. freshly ground pepper

 2 quarts vegetable, chicken or beef stock

1 cup white wine

2 potatoes, any size, peeled, medium diced

1 large can tomatoes OR 2 lbs. fresh tomatoes, chopped

2 zucchini, chopped

thyme, sage + basil, 1 generous tbl. each, if fresh OR 1 generous tsp. dried

1 cup string beans, topped and tailed

1 14 oz. can beans, drained and rinsed under cold water - cannelloni, kidney, chickpeas - your choice

½ cup uncooked elbow pasta, cooked al dente, separately in boiling water*

Soften onions, cabbage, carrots and celery in olive oil on medium heat.  Raise heat to medium high and add mushrooms, salt and pepper.  Cook until mushrooms are just beginning to release liquid.  Add stock and wine, potatoes and canned tomatoes.  Bring to boil.  Add zucchini and string beans.  Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.  Add 1 can beans.  Simmer another 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Add cooked elbows 5 minutes before serving. 

Soup can be frozen when completely cool.

* Always cook the pasta separately and add it just before serving. If you cook the elbows in the minestrone, it will absorb all the liquid.  

NOTE: I like to serve this with large croutes of French bread topped with Emmental.  Cut your bread thickish on an angle.  Top with cheese and place under broiler or in toaster oven until cheese melts.  You only have to cook one side.

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