madbaker | Meet Loaf.

This week's Resolution Recipe: Polpettone di Carne Cruda alla Fiorentina (Florentine-style Meat Loaf).

Take 1/2 a kilogram of boneless lean veal. Remove the membranes and the gristle, and then chop finely, together with a slice of untrimmed proscuitto, first with a knife and then with a mezzaluna. Season with a little salt, pepper, and spices; add an egg, mix well. Wet your hands before shaping the meat into a ball, which you will then roll in flour.

Chop a little bit of onion (about the size of a walnut), some parsley, celery, and carrot, and put on the fire with a bit of butter. When this begins to brown, toss in the meat loaf. Brown all over and then pour in a generous half glass of water in which you have dissolved one tablespoon of flour. Cover and simmer very slowly, making sure that it does not stick. Serve it with its dense sauce all around it, squeezing half a lemon over it. This is not a dish to be sneered at.
-Pellegrino Artusi, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, 1891.

1 lb ground veal (I used pork)
one slice proscuitto (I used pancetta)
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
no garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
several sage leaves, minced
1 egg
flour

1/2 onion, minced (I used a shallot)
small handful parsley, stemmed and chopped
1-2 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup water, with 1 Tbsp flour whisked in
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Mix meat, cured meat, and spices together. Mix in an egg, using your moistened hands to blend thoroughly. Form into a ball and roll in ~1 Tbsp flour.

Melt butter in a large skillet, and add onion, parsley, celery, and carrot. Stir for a few minutes to soften the veg. Make space in the middle and add the meat loaf ball, browning on all sides over medium-low heat. Pour in flour-water mixture, cover, and simmer over very low heat (I used a simmer mat) for an hour. Drizzle lemon juice over meat loaf and sauce, slice, and serve with the thick sauce around the pieces.

What worked: This was actually much better than I expected it to be. Not fancy, and not heavily spiced, but that was fine. The meat loaf cooked and (unexpectedly to me) held together well even without the more-modern addition of breadcrumbs as binding. (I wonder if that was a Depression-era stretcher?)

The wife called it comfort food; if you had the standard '70s/'80s baked meat loaf, this is in that universe. I liked a bit better though as the lemon gave it some zing. I'm not sure if Artusi uses smoked paprika, but what the hey.

What didn't: There wasn't much sauce, which I would have liked more, but looking at the recipe quantities I think there was roughly the desired amount.

Will I make it again? Maybe. The wife would eat it again. It might be a good homeowners' meeting dinner.
I would not sneer at it, Signor Artusi.