Do Your Meatloaf A Favor And Add Hard-Boiled Eggs
If you've ever had the pleasure of tasting a Scotch egg, you'll know that a hard-boiled or soft-boiled egg is perfectly at home within a wall of ground beef. Following this line of logic, it's easy to understand why stuffing your favorite meatloaf recipe with a couple of eggs would be a good idea. Beyond being a delicious addition to a tried-and-true classic, slicing into this meatloaf with its hidden eggs offers a delightful visual.
Of course, this idea has been around almost as long as the recipe for meatloaf. In Poland, they refer to their hard-boiled egg-stuffed meatloaf as a "Roman Roast," and often serve it during Easter celebrations. This egg-studded loaf was also popular with the ethnic Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe, who often called the dish "Klops." As there are plenty of historical recipes to reference, making this dish is relatively easy as long as you follow a few key rules.
How to create your own egg-filled twist on meatloaf
The first thing to address is how you should be cooking the eggs before popping them into your meatloaf. Although a jammy six-minute egg would be a nice addition to your loaf, that tender yolk texture will be lost while it continues to cook inside the meatloaf. Instead, go for a straightforward hard-boiled egg with about 15 minutes in boiling water. You can make the eggs ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Next, we need to address how to properly tuck your eggs into your meatloaf. You can either fill your meatloaf pan about halfway full, nestle the eggs in the center, and then pack the rest of the meatloaf mix around them. Or you can add all of your meatloaf to the pan, place the eggs on top, and then pile and scoop the meatloaf around it. Either way works nicely for concealing the eggs from direct heat. Depending on the size of your meatloaf, you can probably comfortably fit three to four hard-boiled eggs in.
This is a highly flexible hack and will work for most meatloaf recipes. You just need to be aware that the eggs may displace some of the meatloaf mix from the pan. After you've baked it, be prepared to impress your dinner guests with this eggy surprise.