By Sonya Sanford
This story originally appeared on The Nosher.
Nicknamed “Yiddish meatloaf,” klops is an egg-filled meatloaf that likely originated in Austria, but became popular with Polish Jews, and throughout Eastern Europe. Prior to World War I, Vienna was known for its lavish cuisine and layered dishes.
Klops – with its striking hard-boiled egg center – was commonly served in restaurants, as well as in homes. While it may look fancy, klops is prepared with deceptively simple ingredients: ground meat, like beef or veal, onions, egg and matzah meal (or, during most of the year, bread crumbs). This is a true old world dish; meaty, hearty and very filling.
Favored by Ashkenazi Jewish communities, you’ll find recipes for this meatloaf in classic Jewish culinary tomes like Claudia Roden’s seminal “Book of Jewish Food” and Gil Marks’ “The World of Jewish Cooking.” In Gloria Kaufer Greene’s “The Jewish Holiday Cookbook,” she explains, “Jews of Germanic background brought this tasty meat loaf to Israel, where it has become very popular. It is often prepared in advance then chilled, so it can be served at picnics on such festive occasions as Lag B’Omer and Yom Ha’Atzmaut.”
Klops can be whipped up quickly, but the trickiest bit is nestling the hard boiled eggs into the center, making sure each one is carefully covered with the ground meat mixture before baking. Some like to add a layer of caramelized onions on top after the klops comes out of the oven, and others prefer ketchup or tomato sauce as a glaze while it cooks.
I’m partial to a ketchup topping, with its tangy bright note and glossy finish; but if you’re a traditionalist, feel free to omit it. As comforting as it is to eat meatloaf of any kind, there’s something undeniably impressive about slicing into klops, and revealing a happy golden yolk peeking through the center of each serving.
The Ultimate Jewish Meatloaf Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled
- 2 lbs lean ground beef (90/10)
- 1 medium onion
- 3–4 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/3 cup matzah meal (or 1/2 cup bread crumbs)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (reduce to 1 teaspoon if using table salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 large egg
For the glaze (optional):
- 1/4 cup ketchup
Instructions
- Hard-boil three eggs and peel them. (This can be made up to one day in advance and stored in the fridge.)
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment. If you do not have this sized loaf pan, you can form the meat into a loaf directly onto a parchment-lined sheet pan.
- Prepare the vegetables. Very finely mince your onion by pulsing it in a food processor, or grating it on the medium-hole of a box grater (you can also use a knife to finely dice your onion, but for flavor it’s ideal to use a processor or grater.) In a food processor or using a microplane, finely chop or grate your garlic. Finely chop your parsley.
- In a large bowl, add the ground beef, minced onion and garlic, chopped parsley, matzah meal, salt, pepper and egg. Using clean hands, mix the meatloaf mixture until well-combined, but be careful not to overwork the mixture to avoid toughness.
- Assemble the klops by placing a third of the meat mixture into the bottom of the loaf pan. Place the eggs upright into the pan, spacing them evenly apart. Add the remaining meat mixture to the pan, and make sure the top of each egg is covered. If forming onto a sheet pan instead of a loaf pan, place a third of the meat into a 9×5-inch rectangular shape, place the eggs on top upright, and form the remaining mixture around the eggs into a loaf; making sure the tops of each egg are covered by the meat.
- Place in a preheated oven for 50 minutes. If using a ketchup glaze, brush it onto the top of the loaf and continue to cook for an additional 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160°F. If you’re skipping the glaze, check the temperature of the klops after 1 hour, and continue cooking 10 minutes, or until it reaches 160°F.
- Once cooked, let the klops rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving!
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