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Ricotta Meatloaf

Ricotta meatloaf slices on a plate.
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5 from 7 reviews

There’s meatloaf, and then there’s meatloaf stuffed with cheese! Once you try ricotta meatloaf you’ll never think of meatloaf the same way again.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 cups day-old bread cubes
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  • 2 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
  • 1 cup fresh ricotta
  • 1/2 cup chopped scallions
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley, plus extra for garnish
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 cup fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes
  • 1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups warm tomato sauce (try the “Best Tomato Sauce In The World” recipe on this blog for a great quick homemade version!)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Pour the milk over the bread cubes and let soak for a few minutes until the bread is saturated. Squeeze the soft bread a handful at a time, pressing out as much milk as you can, crumble bread into crumbs with your fingers and place in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Add the ground beef to the bowl, breaking it up into small pieces as you add it. Add the eggs, ricotta, scallions, grated cheese, parsley, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and mix everything together (your clean hands are the very best for this!)
  4. Add the mozzarella cubes and work them through the meat mixture until they are evenly distributed.
  5. Place a metal cooling rack in a rimmed baking pan and brush it with olive oil. Shape the meat mixture into an oval loaf and lay it on the rack. Brush the loaf with olive oil and cover the pan with foil, tenting it up so it doesn’t touch the meat loaf. Bake for 45 minutes.
  6. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover again with the foil and let the meat loaf rest for 15 minutes. Heat up the tomato sauce while you are waiting.
  7. Slice thickly and pour the tomato sauce on top. Garnish with more chopped parsley and serve.

Notes

    • Meat: You can either use all ground chuck steak – we suggest the 80/20 fat version for maximum flavor – or the meatloaf combo of beef, pork and veal that some supermarkets carry.

    • Bread: Use whatever kind you have on hand – the last time I made this meatloaf I used leftover hamburger rolls!

    • Ricotta: If you are using store bought ricotta, the full fat version works best.

    • Mozzarella: Go for the fresh kind in the fancy cheese section of your supermarket. It tastes AMAZING.

    • Tomato sauce: We like this three ingredient tomato sauce recipe which cooks up while your meatloaf bakes, but your favorite jarred version is just fine too.

Find it online: https://www.framedcooks.com/ricotta-meatloaf/