Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4-6
In the heart of Italy, Tuscans accompany meats with lashings of fresh herbs and vibrant vegetables.
I’ve taken those ingredients and made a lamb meatloaf packed with delicious flavours. Traditionally lamb is not on the table of Italian dining, however we always favour lamb over beef or pork in our household, so chose to use it again for this recipe. The trick is to take super fresh minced lamb with a good amount of fat speckled throughout. You don’t want lean mince or else the loaf will be dry.
A lamb meatloaf inspired by the flavours of the Tuscan countryside and filled with fresh spinach and sweet green peas.
Meatloaf ingredients
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius
Pour 2 tbsp olive oil into a large saucepan, and when heated add the spinach. Gently fry until all the spinach wilts and the water evaporates. You may need to add the spinach a bit at a time, stirring occasionally, to allow it to shrink and give space for more spinach. Take off the heat and let cool.
Add another 2 tbsp olive oil into the frying pan, heat, and then add the diced onion, minced garlic, rosemary and thyme. Sauté until the onions turn a golden brown stirring occasionally.
Add the spinach and peas into the frying pan and heat through while stirring to infuse the flavours into the vegetables.
Remove 2/3 of the mix into a large mixing bowl and set aside the remaining mix
Spray a 30cm loaf pan with oil and set aside.
In the mixing bowl, add the lamb mince, parsley, remaining olive oil, pepper, egg and almond meal. With your hands (you might like to wear a glove) knead the mixture for 1-2 minutes.
Take a bit over half the meat mixture and press into the loaf pan, making a deep well into the meat for the vegetable mix to sit into. Add the vegetable mix and flatten out well. Top the loaf with the remaining meat mixture, ensuring that there are no gaps around the edges.
Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
