Meat with with spinach inside and wrapped in crescent rolls.
Ingredients:
Ground Meat, 3 pounds lean
Garlic Cloves, 4 crushed
Bell Pepper, 1/2 diced fine
Onion, yellow, 1 diced fine
Butter, 1 Tablespoon
Panco Bread Crumbs, 1 1/2 cups
Mayonaise, 1 cup
Parmesan Cheese, 1 cup grated
Eggs, 3
Tomato Soup, 1 Can
Onion Soup Mix, 1 packet
Basil, dry 2 Tablespoons
Parsley, dry 2 Tablespoons
Worcestershire Sauce, 2 Tablespoons
Balsamic Vinegar, 2 Tablespoons
Feta Cheese, 1 Cup
Spinach, fresh 2 Cups
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 teaspoon
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Pepper, 1 teaspoon freshly ground
Crescent Rolls, 2 – 8 oz containers
Directions:
Sauté the bell pepper, garlic and onion in the butter for about 5 minutes to get tender. In a large bowl, add the mixture in with the the meat, bread crumbs, mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, eggs, tomato soup, onion soup packet, basil, parsley, salt, pepper, olive oil, worcestershire sauce, and balsamic vinegar. Mix together well with your hands and then divide the meat in half. Place half of the mixture into an un-greased dish. It will fit nicely into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch glass baking dish, or you can use any baking sheet that is large enough. Press the meat down firmly to shape a flat loaf. On top, add the fresh spinach and feta cheese, then add the remaining meat over that, and shape into one big loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. After the meatloaf is cooked, remove from the oven and cover completely with dough using two packages of crescent rolls. Cook an additional seventeen minutes (following the directions on the crescent rolls) or until golden brown.
Half of the meat mixture is on the pan so I can add the feta cheese and fresh spinach on top.
Second layer is over the spinach and molded into one big loaf. This is ready to go into the oven and cook for one hour at 350 degrees.
After the meatloaf has cooked for one hour, remove it from the oven. On a clean baking sheet smooth out one can of the Crescent rolls, then place the cooked meatloaf on top of it. Cover the top and sides with the second container of crescents so the entire meatloaf is surrounded with the dough.
Place back into the oven and bake an additional seventeen minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.
The spinach cooks down considerably, and with the addition of the feta cheese it adds a nice thin layer of wonderful tasting flavor to the meat. The result is a meatloaf packed with flavor, extremely moist, with a top that is golden brown and flaky. This is one of my very favorite ways to make meatloaf.
