FLOWER POT KITCHEN: PROSCIUTTO WRAPPED MUSHROOM MEATLOAF

21 Sept 2017

PROSCIUTTO WRAPPED MUSHROOM MEATLOAF

BEST EVER MEATLOAF

This is one of my best ever meatloaf recipes, moist succulent and brilliantly flavoursome, being British but living as much as I can in the US I am learning to love meatloaf, now chicken fried steak, Idaho mashed potatoes a side of more mash and country gravy that I am in love with but meatloaf not as much hence I always order my favourite dish at my Husbands local diner where he will always orders the blue plate special meatloaf, I will admit it is so succulent that I do wonder why I want to eat his meal but I never order it but then how can I when they have chicken fried steak. How can I not... But it did make me think how I could get the meatloaf that moist and tasty at home for my family. After a bit of homework I got it, its mushrooms just like the secret to a perfect British Beef Wellington, a mushroom layer that adds moisture and brillant flavour.

Prep time 5 minutes / Sautéing time 10 / Oven time 30-40 minutes

Ingredients

(Makes 6 individuals)

500g ground chuck steak

1 tbsp coconut or olive oil

10 mushrooms chestnut diced

1 onion finely diced

2 garlic finely diced

1/4 tsp Himalayan sea salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 egg beaten

1/2 cup flaxseed (gluten free) OR

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

6 slices Prosciutto Parma ham

Heat a skillet medium hot, add the oil and gently soften the onions, garlic and mushrooms for around five minutes, take off the heat and leave to cool slightly while you get on with the meatloaf mince. Pre heat your oven to 180 C / 370 F and place a shallow roasting tin full of water in the bottom of the oven, this will keep the oven moist and create a little steam which will help keep the meatloaf really moist.

Place the rest of the ingredients except the prosciutto in a large mixing bowl and using your hands mix thoroughly, add the slightly cooled mushrooms and mix in. Take your muffin tin and line six with the prosciutto leaving some hanging over both sides.

Take a handful of your meatloaf mix and squeeze together then place in the prosciutto lined muffing tin, press in to all the corners and wrap the over hanging prosciutto over the top the of the meatloaf to make a parcel. Repeat with the rest.

Pop in the oven and bake for around 20 minutes, if you have a cooking probe you will want the centre of the meatloaf to be above 85 degrees, I use the prodding method, if it bounces its cooked, if it squishes it needs a little longer.

Take out and leave to rest for a few minutes before serving, these are great as on the go food or for fridge raiders!

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.