Braciole Style Meatloaf

Braciole is a fabulous Italian dish that consists of thin slices of beef stuffed with all sorts of goodies (recipes vary by family and region), and then braised for a long time to make it tender. It's a delicious meal, and one that I'll post sometime in the future, but this meatloaf recipe (inspired by a Rachel Ray recipe, but much improved upon, if I do say so myself!) is quicker and easier for a week-night meal.

1 pound of ground meat -- a beef/veal/pork mixture is best and most sumptuous, but you could use all beef
1 large egg
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup grated cheese (parmigiana if you want it to have nutty undertones, romano if you want a sharper tasting meatloaf)
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1/4 -1/3 cup of bread crumbs (either plain or Italian seasoned are fine)
3-4 tablespoons fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
4 slices of proscioutto
2-3 slices of smoked cheese -- fontina, provolone, or mozzarella are best
4-5 slices of pancetta (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients except for the proscioutto, smoked cheese and pancetta. Use only 1/4 cup of bread crumbs at first and only add more if the mixture is too wet to hold together. The mixture should not be firm or bready -- it should only have enough bread crumbs to be able to form it into a loaf.

Once it's mixed, take slightly more than 1/2 of the mixture and place in in a lightly-oiled baking dish - form it into the bottom half of the meatloaf, making a well in the middle for the filling. Place the proscioutto and cheese in the middle of the loaf, and then cover with the rest, sealing all the ends tightly. Some of the cheese will inevitably ooze out while cooking, but try to minimize that by sealing it up well.

If you'd like, you can cover the meatloaf with the pancetta for a bit of extra moisture and taste, but it's optional.

Place the meatloaf in a 400 degree oven and bake for 45 minutes. When you take it out of the oven, cover it tightly with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes, both to let the juices settle in the meat, but also to let the cheese set a bit so it won't all run out when you slice it.

After it rests, simply slice with a serrated knife and serve -- if you'd like, you can pour a bit of warm tomato sauce on the top as well -- it's just about the best comfort food you'll ever eat!

* I don't add any salt to this recipe -- the cheeses and meat add more than enough for my taste.