Wartime recipe collections were full of rolled dishes called roly polys. Sometimes they were main dishes and sometimes desserts, but they were all attractive ways of extending rationed or scarce foods with the addition of a less expensive cereal or egg product (such as the bread stuffing used here), biscuit dough, rice, or a soufflé layer.
½ pound ground beef
½ pound ground pork
½ pound ground veal
1 large egg
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups cubed day-old white bread (from 5 to 6 slices bread)
½ cup finely chopped onion
½ cup finely chopped red bell pepper
¼ cup milk
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
½ teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
1 tablespoon melted bacon fat or shortening
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a shallow roasting pan.
Combine beef, pork, veal, egg, ½ teaspoon salt, and the pepper in a medium bowl. Pat out to a 12-inch square on wax paper.
Combine bread cubes, onion, bell pepper, milk, parsley, marjoram, remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, and the bacon fat in same bowl. Pat in an even layer over meat. Roll up like a jelly roll on the wax paper and using ends of paper, lift roly poly into greased pan. Pull wax paper out from under roll.
Bake, uncovered, 45 to 50 minutes or until the center of roly poly feels firm when gently pressed.
To serve, cut roly poly crosswise into 8 slices.
8 Servings