Recipe by Silvia Baldini – This is a simple but stunning recipe, and is a hybrid of a popular fall Italian dish often prepared during grape harvesting season and the French vinegar roasted chicken. I nestle whole clusters of stem-on sweet Thompson grapes around my chicken to roast in the savory pan juices. A sprinkle of sugar on the grapes and a splash of sherry or high-quality balsamic vinegar give it a crisp acidity to balance the bright and deep flavors.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini – This is a simple but stunning recipe, and is a hybrid of a popular fall Italian dish often prepared during grape harvesting season and the French vinegar roasted chicken. I nestle whole clusters of stem-on sweet Thompson grapes around my chicken to roast in the savory pan juices. A sprinkle of sugar on the grapes and a splash of sherry or high-quality balsamic vinegar give it a crisp acidity to balance the bright and deep flavors.
1teaspoonfresh ground black pepper, plus more as needed
2teaspoonslemon zest
2teaspoonsfresh lemon juice
½cupextra virgin olive oil
1(3 ½ to 4 lb)whole chicken, spatchcocked (see notes)
1lbstem-on Thompson grapes, or sweet seedless black grapes, trimmed into small clusters
1teaspoongranulated white sugar
½cupsherry vinegar or aged dark balsamic, plus 2 tablespoons for finishing
1 ½teaspoonsunsalted butter
Servings: people
Instructions
Rub 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, lemon zest, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil generously over both sides of the chicken.
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Set a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the pan and oil are hot, place chicken in the skillet skin side down. Cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes, or until the skin is nicely browned. Turn chicken skin-side up and cook for 3 minutes on the other side.
Transfer the chicken to the oven and roast for 20 to 25 minutes.
In a medium bowl, toss the grapes with 2 teaspoons olive oil, sugar, ½ cup sherry vinegar, salt and pepper. Scatter the grapes with their vinegar sauce over and around the chicken and roast until the chicken is cooked through and the grapes are lightly caramelized, 20 to 25 minutes.
Transfer the chicken to a serving platter to rest. Use the stems to lift out the grapes to rest alongside the chicken.. Place the skillet over medium- high heat. Swirl 2 tablespoons of vinegar into the pan juices and whisk in the butter , reduce for 4 to 5 minutes, until dense and slightly caramelized. Return the grapes to the thickened sauce and gently swirl around for a minute to coat.
Scatter the glossy grape bunches around the chicken and pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Spatchcocking chicken, or butterflying, means cutting the chicken along its backbone, then opening it up so that it can lie flat in a pan or on a grill. Spatchcocked chickens cook quickly and evenly, turning uniformly brown and with a perfect crispy skin. You can ask your butcher to spatchcock the chicken for you, but it’s not a hard thing to do yourself. I use my sharp kitchen shears and I cut alongside the backbone, from one end of the bird to the other. Then I cut along the other side of the backbone to remove it completely and then I flatten the whole bird evenly with the palm of my hands.
You can roast 8 to 10 chicken parts (mix of bone-in breasts, thighs and drumsticks) instead of one spatchcocked chicken. Check the temperature with a digital thermometer at the 30 minute mark, removing and keeping warm any pieces that cook through early.
Thompson grapes are very sweet and appear at the end of the summer and beginning of fall. You can substitute with any kind of sweet and seedless black grape or plums to make this lovely recipe all year around.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini— This creamy chicken ragù is easy to make and boasts remarkable depth thanks to the flavors of an Italian-style soffritto made with onions, carrots, celery, and parsley.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini— This creamy chicken ragù is easy to make and boasts remarkable depth thanks to the flavors of an Italian-style soffritto made with onions, carrots, celery, and parsley.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium. Add pancetta; cook, stirring often, until fat has rendered, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to a plate, reserving drippings in Dutch oven. Add garlic to Dutch oven; increase heat to medium-high. Sprinkle chicken all over with salt and pepper. Working in batches if needed, add chicken, skin side down, to Dutch oven. Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 6 minutes. Transfer chicken thighs to a plate.
Reserve garlic and 2 tablespoons drippings in Dutch oven; discard remaining drippings. Add sofrito and wine; bring to a simmer over medium. Cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits, until mixture is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Return chicken to Dutch oven in a snug single layer; add stock, ensuring chicken is barely covered. Return mixture to a simmer over medium. While mixture comes to a simmer, bundle together leek leaves, rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf; secure with kitchen twine, and add to Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until chicken is tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Remove Dutch oven from heat. Transfer chicken to a cutting board; partially cover Dutch oven. Let chicken and sauce stand 10 minutes. Skim and discard fat from sauce; remove and discard garlic cloves and leek-herb bundle. Stir reserved pancetta into sauce. Remove and discard skin and bones from chicken; finely shred chicken meat.
Stir cream into sauce. Cook over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced by nearly half and has slightly thickened, 8 to 12 minutes. Stir peas and shredded chicken into sauce; cook until peas are just tender, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat, and cover to keep warm.
Cook pasta according to package directions; drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
Add pasta, Parmesan, butter, and lemon zest to sauce. Stir to combine, adding splashes of reserved cooking liquid as needed to form a creamy sauce. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve in large bowls.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini— This is a power tart. Loads of roasted and slightly caramelized vegetables generously piled up on a wholewheat crust. A perfect fall family meal.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini— This is a power tart. Loads of roasted and slightly caramelized vegetables generously piled up on a wholewheat crust. A perfect fall family meal.
3/4cupchilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces1/2 stick
1tablespoonapple cider vinegar
Toppings
3tablespoonsEVOO
4tablespoonstomato sauce
1large grilled and sliced eggplant
1bunch largeSwiss chard ribs and stems removed, leaves cut into bite-size pieces
1cuproasted brussels sprouts
1cup roasted tomatoes
Flaky sea salt Maldon
2tablespoonsThe Secret Ingredient Girls Traditional Balsamic
1bunchbasil leaves
Servings: people
Instructions
Pulse all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and salt in a food processor to
combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few
pea-size pieces of butter remaining.
Transfer mixture to a large bowl; drizzle with vinegar and ¼ cup ice water.
Mix with a fork, adding more ice water by the tablespoonful if needed, just until a
shaggy dough comes together; lightly knead until no dry spots remain (do not
overwork). Pat into a disk and wrap in plastic. Chill at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 400°
Roll out dough on a lightly floured sheet of parchment to a 14” round about ⅛”
thick. Transfer on parchment to a baking sheet. Spread the tomato sauce on the
dough. Drizzle some EVOO and season with salt.
Scatter all the ingredient on the sauce and finish with the olive oil.
Bake, rotating once, until crust is golden brown and cooked through, 25-30
minutes. Let cool slightly on baking sheet.
Season with salt. Finish with the remaining EVOO and Balsamic. Scatter the basil
Recipe Notes
DO AHEAD: Dough can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
Welcome back to school!
Of course with peace and back to school we also get back to lunches, dinner, snacks and the dreaded stinky soccer shoes. I don’t know what to do about smelly shoes, but I know how to cope with meal’s prep anxiety.
I personally enjoy cooking for my family because I believe nourishing is the best part of being a woman and a mother.
The food I like to cook straddles both my vision, and passion for eating well and my love for taking care of family and friends. I truly enjoy cooking wholesome recipes that are good for the mind and body. Then I find immense joy in sharing my recipes. Essentially, I believe in the power of food to nourish the body and in the power of women to nourish loved ones. I also know how hard it is to find the time to shop and cook healthy but delicious meals for a family every day.
This is way I’m excited to be working and to be sharing my recipes with RealEats.com RealEats is a prepared meal subscription service that makes it quick and simple to eat real food. Meals are vacuum-sealed in food-safe, recyclable pouches to lock in the freshness, flavor and nutrients, then shipped directly from our kitchen to consumers weekly. Meals stay fresh for seven days when refrigerated, and can simply be reheated in a pot of boiling water, ready to eat in under 10 minutes. The first 3 meals are $30 Among many yummy recipes you can try my shrimp, beans and pancetta, a shiitake chicken and a braised chickpeas and tomatoes vegetarian stew, a brilliant meat free dish. It’s served with a delicious spinach couscous for extra energy. This toothsome and tender chickpeas stew is seasoned to perfection. The tenderness comes from the slow and low cooking; the punchy flavors come from the healthy and powerful blend of spices. The braised chickpeas and tomatoes vegetarian stew is a brilliant meat free dish. It’s served with a delicious spinach couscous for extra energy.
If you are still not convinced you can read the raving reviews in The Manual or watch me tomorrow live on Good Morning CT at 9 when I demonstrate how easy it is to prep a meal in less than 8 minutes.
1lb.Shiitake mushroomscleaned, stemmed and halved if too large
1organic lemon sliced
1tsp.sherry vinegar
2large cloves of garlic, smashed
2 tsp.thyme leaves
1/2cupchopped parsley
2tbsp.sherry vinegar
extra lemon slices and parsley for garnish
Servings: people
Instructions
Preheat the oven at 450F. Line a thick rimmed oven tray with parchment.
Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper then place on the lined oven tray. Drizzle the chicken with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and half of the lemon juice and add the thyme sprigs.
Place the chicken in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until the chicken begins to brown,
then pull out of the oven.
Meanwhile in a medium bowl, toss the cleaned mushrooms with the lemon slices and two tablespoons of the olive oil, one teaspoon of the sherry vinegar, the garlic and the thyme, then scatter around the browned chicken. Roast for about 30 to 35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the mushrooms are browned at the edges.
While the chicken is cooking, mix the remaining olive oil with the 1/2 a cup of parsley the 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Season the sauce with salt.
When ready to serve, squeeze the remaining half of the lemon on the chicken then spoon some of the parsley sauce on top of the chicken and mushrooms. Serve with the remaining sauce. Garnish with lemon and extra parsley.
Recipe Notes
I adore Shiitake. Of course fresh porcini would make a wonderful substitute. I have also used marsala instead of the sherry vinegar for a slightly sweeter finish.
Euphoria has been building in our home. The infamous puberty class is happening today. Questions have been flying in for months as well as large packs of manly Axe Deodorant. I have spent hours at the local pharmacy waiting for my son to choose between Gold Temptation, Anarchy For Him and yes, something named Excite Deodorant Stick.
Secretly I want my boy to remain cute, cuddly and stinky forever but as a mother I feel the responsibility to give him the chance to grow up in to a strong, confident, respectful, kind and hopefully succesful man. The way I see it, we have enough puberty-trapped, spoiled men-children disrupting our lives at the moment.
Below you’ll find some of the questions my husband and I answered this year. My younger daughter of course felt the need to jump in abundantly and she was not shy with her queries. The creatures seem to be the most curious at inopportune times and/or when guests, grandparents or church ladies are close by, but we have learned to deflect when necessary and to answer with— I hope — honesty and humor.
If you feel the need to sit with your family and have “the talk” or any talk, consider making my recipe for a lighter version of a lasagna tray made with pane Casarau. Pane Casarau is an ancient flat bread from Sardegna. The airy flat layers are simply delicious, salty and crunchy. They are made of flour, yeast, water, and salt. The dough is rolled out thin and baked, then split into two layers which are baked again. The result is a thin, crispy cracker like, bread. This crispy bread is great on its own or served together with a fresh but dry pecorino and thick slices of prosciutto. It’s also delicious when layered in this version of the ultimate family comfort food, my easy and light ragu’ and mozzarella lasagna. This lasagna is healthier, lighter than the original version. The Casarau bread while satisfying has less gluten than pasta resulting in a more digestible dish.
I believe ancient wisdom is always the best ingredient therefore I cannot wait to sit around the family table tonight and dispense my knowledge. I’m sure the discussions will not disappoint. Happy Wednesday to all the ladies working hard at growing boys in to good men, not an easy task. #RESIST
Puberty Questions:
Does it hurt to get a baby created?
Why do you have sex?
How do you have sex
When you are going through puberty would a person have mood swings?
When do you start having your period?
When do you start growing hair under your armpits?
Does it feel good to have sex?
What happens if puberty doesn’t happen to you?
Why does puberty happen?
Why do people stop doing puberty?
What is it called when you have a tingling in your private part? Is it called an orgasm?
Can a man have a woman’s part and a woman have a man’s part?
What is an orgasm?
What are the side effects of sex?
What makes semen?
What color is sperm?
If I had all the symptoms of a period would I get it soon even if I’m only 10?
What do men and women have to have to make a child?
Does the flow of the period last days?
How many hormones are in the human body?
What age do you start have and stop having baby?
Why do girls go through more things than boys do?
Why do you have a half cup of blood when you have your period? Why not ¼ or 3/8?
How does the HIV virus go into other person by having sex?
What are AIDS?
What happens when a man’s penis becomes hard?
Why is it wrong to have sex before you are married and who came up with the idea that it is?
How do you know someone is in love with you?
Why do people have sexual change of feelings about a man or woman?
How do I know it’s time to wear deodorant?
Why can some women can’t have baby?
Is it normal for a 5th grader to have pubic hairs?
Why does my penis get big? I mean I know what’s supposed to happen but why does it happen randomly?
Do you have to have sex?
I just wanted to know if the sack behind penis ever runs out of sperm?
Why are kids mental when there parents are related?
Is having sex the only way to have a baby?
What are the positions for having sex?
Where do you have sex?
How does sex change your life?
How large does your penis grow when you hit puberty?
How do condoms work?
Can a man to man make babies?
Will my personality change in puberty? Will I become unnaturally gloomy?
Can puberty be disturbing sometimes?
Where does the liquid from the boy’s penis come from?
How are ferternal twins born?
My question is, what happens to your body after experiencing “it”!
For breast feeding where does the milk come from?
When is the right time to start wearing bras?
What happens if one of your breasts is bigger than the other? Is that bad?
Will it hurt when my body changes?
Why are we even talking about these things?
2cupstomato sauceyou can use Pomi strained tomatoes
4cupsvegetable stock or water
8/12crackers pane CasarauI used 1 and 1/2 square pack available at Trader Joe's
salt and pepper to season
2cupsmeat ragu'
1poundfresh mozzarella sliced
1/4cupfreshly grated pecorino Romano cheese
1/4cupfreshly grated parmigiano
1bunchfresh basil leaves
extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Servings: people
Instructions
Preheat the oven at 350°F.
Spoon a thin layer of tomato sauce into the bottom of a 9-by-12-inch lasagna pan. Wet the Pane Casarau crackers with the vegetable stock or the water to soften them. Then cover the tomato sauce with one layer of the Pane Casaurau. You can break the bread to fit pan.
Spoon a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bread and season highly with salt and pepper. Add a thin layer of ragu' sauce and spread. Sprinkle with a couple of teaspoons of the grated pecorino and parmigiano. Add 4 to 6 thin slices of the mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with basil leaves.
Cover with a layer of the softened Pane Casarau and repeat for 2 or 3 more layers using all the ingredients. Top with a layer of tomato sauce and sprinkle evenly with the grated cheeses.
Bake for 30 to 35 minute, or until the cheese on the top is melted and slightly golden brown. Drizzle with olive oil to finish.
Recipe Notes
I used a square version of Pane Casarau from Trader Joe's. You can find the bread online at hwww.amazon.com/Pane-Carasau-Flatbread-Classic-gram/dp/B007W5OUB6
I have made the lasagna without ragu' and I increased the amount of tomato sauce and the mozzarella.
3packskit Kat barsget a couple of extra packs for safety
1bagM&M'ssmarties or jellybeans are fun too
1medium Jarnutellachocolate frosting can be used instead
Servings: people
Instructions
Heat the oven at 350, butter and flour or spray with baking spray two 10 inches baking pans.
Put the eggs, sugar and lemon zest and vanilla extract in a bowl of your stand mixer. Beat the eggs until very fluffy and pale yellow (about 15 minutes on medium/high speed). To test that it has been beaten enough, let some of the mixture fall into the bowl, it will make stiff ribbons.
Sift the flour and baking powder on top of the egg mixture, a little at a time, and fold it gently with a wooden spoon.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Don't smooth the top or bang the pan on the counter, leave it as it is!
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Remember: do not open the oven for the first 20 minutes!)
Turn off the oven but leave the cake inside (put a wooden spoon to keep the oven door slightly open) for at least 10 minutes so it can cool down slowly. After that, remove it from the oven, let it cool 10 more minutes, loosen around the edges with a knife, then flip the cake on a wire rack upside down (without the pan) to cool completely.
Chocolate Custard
Melt the Chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave, set aside.
Heat milk in a medium heavy saucepan with the lemon zest until bubbles appear around edge.
Beat egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl with wire whisk or mixer until pale yellow and thick. Beat in flour until well mixed.
Gradually beat in hot milk; pour all back into saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over moderately high heat until mixture thickens and comes to boiling, lower heat. Mixture will be lumpy in the beginning, but lumps disappear during cooking and stirring.
Add the melted chocolate and stir well.
Continue cooking 2 to 3 minutes, over low heat, stirring constantly. Mixture will be quite thick.
Chill at least 2 hours. If filling becomes too stiff after it's chilled, gradually stir in 2 to 4 tablespoons cream or milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Assembly and Decoration
Slice the 2 cakes in 4 even layers.
Place the first layer on a cake stand or a card board round mat if you plan to transport the cake. You can spread a dollop of cream on the cake stand base or on the cardboard to glue the cake.
Spread enough chocolate cream to cover the surface on the top of the first layer then place the second half of the cake on top of the cream. Repeat the process until you have all for layers stacked.
With a metal spatula or a knife cover the whole cake in an even coat of Nutella or chocolate frosting. This will be the glue for your Kit Kat bars.
Break apart approximately 36 Kit Kats, 2 at the times. Begin to place them around the cake and cover the diameter. Tie with a ribbon, if desired. Top with M&M's.
Recipe Notes
Make the cakes the day before. Keep overnight in an air tight container. You can bake them 3 days ahead or even freeze them.
Make sure your layer cakes are not taller than a Kit Kat.
You may want to freeze your Kit Kats to avoid fingerprints.
You can use your favorite frosting instead of the custard and the Nutella.
My favorite time of the day is undoubtedly dinner time. That’s when I sit down, together with my family, to share a meal, a laugh, a cry, and at times a squabble.
Family meals are precious, indispensable and untouchable. They are about good food, nourishment, but also about helpful bonding.
Family meals are used to discuss daily events, school, work, ideas. A sense of humor is required, good manners are requested, some culinary experimentation is necessary. Incidentally, I’m ferocious about no technology at the table.
No phones. No Ipads. No TV.
Family meals are chaos, they can turn in to a circus if not a zoo, but most of the times they are pure joy. Selected family members are more adventurous eater than others, but generally, as long as I don’t sneak in mushrooms, I get happy costumers, clean plates, and useful information about every ones life endeavors.
In the spirit of full disclosure, good manners are not always a guarantee, i.e. my son’s ability to burp the whole alphabet in one go and my daughter Houdini’s talent for making all her vegetables disappear and re-appear in the garbage; however, while Downton Abbey we are not, I do hope for resolution of the above malfunctions in the not so distant future.
Sharing meals has always been party of my upbringing and I’m holding to this tradition for dear life, because, I truly believe, connecting with my children and my husband, even if only for 20 minutes a day, it’s the key to a healthy family. To be clear, I’m not the only to believe in this.
The Family Dinner Project, a non profit organization dedicated to support families to come together and share their experiences and insights to help each other realize the benefits of family dinners has a phenomenal website loaded with evidence and studies supporting what parents have know for a long time:
“Sharing a fun family meal is good for the spirit, brain and health of all family members. Recent studies link regular family meals with the kinds of behaviors that parents want for their children: higher grade-point averages, resilience and self-esteem. Additionally, family meals are linked to lower rates of substance abuse, teen pregnancy, eating disorders and depression. We also believe in the power of family dinners to nourish ethical thinking.”
Harvard Medical School professor and family therapist Dr. Anne Fishel, co-founder of the Family dinner Project, says research shows how children benefit from eating dinner together as a family at home: healthier eating habits, reduced obesity and stronger vocabulary skills as a result of dinnertime conversations.
I encourage you to visit The Family Dinner Project for some invaluable insights and I urge you to try adding some family dinners to your schedule, or breakfasts or suppers.
To make your life easier enlist family members to participate, cook together, set the table, and clean up. Kids love to peel, cut, mash, pick herbs, wash, rinse and squeeze. My husband is terrific at rearranging the dishwasher; you can read about power struggle and dishwashers in this recent WSJ article.
No need to over-complicate. The meals can be very simple. It takes 3 minutes to boil a 3 minute egg and 1 minute to wrap some prosciutto on bread sticks. 6 minutes to steam vegetables in the microwave. 30 seconds to scoop some ice cream in a bowl.
Big PBJ & Jelly Jar – 2011 by Mary Hellen Johnson
If you have 30 minutes check this fab recipes from the genius at Leite’s Culinaria, if you have 15 minutes follow this fun recipe for one pot pasta by Martha Stewart, if you have 45 minutes on a weekend make my lemon, sage fontina meat loaf, it’s divine. You can prep it, freeze it and pop it in the oven when you feel like having a treat. It makes great sandwiches the day after. If it’s cold outside, make my coconut, ginger squash soup. PBJ sandwiches are a cupboard away. In the end, if you panic email me, I’ll gladly share some ideas with you, together with my mother in law’s mom words of wisdom: Chi canta a tavola o a letto e’ un matto perfetto.
Sweat the onions with the parsley until soft but not colored. Meanwhile in a mixer bowl add the beef, pork, veal, egg, grated parmesan,cumin powder, nutmeg, ricotta, bread crumbs, salt and pepper.
Mix well until all is combined. Add the onions and parsley mixture, cognac and mix again.
Cover a cutting board with a rectangular piece of saran wrap. Scoop the meatloaf mixture in the middle of the board and with wet hands form an even rectangle about 10x15 inches. Layer the sage, fontina and lemon peel, forming a strip in the center.
Using the saran wrap to help you, roll the meatloaf and seal all the edges forming a cylinder.
Discard the saran wrap. Place the meatloaf in lined oven dish and cover with the pancetta slices overlapping them slightly. Cook in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes.
Recipe Notes
You can make the meatloaf and freeze it before cooking it.
Heat about half the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat until golden, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the squash, broth and spices. Bring to a steady simmer, then cover and simmer gently until the apples are tender, about 25 minutes.
Transfer the solids to a food processor with a slotted spoon, in batches if need be, and process until smoothly pureed, then transfer back to the soup pot. Or better yet, simply insert an immersion blender into the pot and process until smoothly pureed.
Stir in the coconut milk and return the soup to a gentle simmer. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until well heated through. Season with salt and pepper. If time allows, let the soup stand off the heat for an hour or two, then heat through as needed before serving.
To serve, ladle soup into each bowl, then place a small mound macadamia basil pesto in the center.
Macadamia, basil pesto
Toast the macadamia nuts in the oven. Put in a mortar with the basil, salt pepper and lemon juice. Work in to a paste. You can also use small blender. Add the olive oil and mix well.
Sweat the onions with the parsley until soft but not colored. Meanwhile in a mixer bowl add the beef, pork, veal, egg, grated parmesan,cumin powder, nutmeg, ricotta, bread crumbs, salt and pepper.
Mix well until all is combined. Add the onions and parsley mixture, cognac and mix again.
Cover a cutting board with a rectangular piece of saran wrap. Scoop the meatloaf mixture in the middle of the board and with wet hands form an even rectangle about 10x15 inches. Layer the sage, fontina and lemon peel, forming a strip in the center.
Using the saran wrap to help you, roll the meatloaf and seal all the edges forming a cylinder.
Discard the saran wrap. Place the meatloaf in lined oven dish and cover with the pancetta slices overlapping them slightly. Cook in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes.
Recipe Notes
You can make the meatloaf and freeze it before cooking it.
