German Meat Loaf Falscher Hase

The German Meat loaf “Falscher Hase” (which means literally :fake rabbit”) is basically a German meat loaf with hard boiled eggs inside.
It can become a decorative Easter dish when you create the rabbits face as shown on the photo. Use bay leaves for the ears, spaghetti for the whiskers, and egg white plus raisins for the eyes; the nose can be made out of a carrot piece.

But why is it called Falscher Hase?
The German dish became popular after World War II when meat was scarce and expensive. So therefor German housewives mixed chopped meats, wrapped it around eggs and formed a meatloaf which was “roasted”,  and has a shape reminiscent of rabbit which was a a highly prized meat. That’s how the name “Falscher Hase” came about. Happy Cooking!

Ingredients German Meatloaf Falscher Hase

1 dry roll or 2 slices white bread
1/8 l cold water
1 small onion
2-3 tbsp chopped parsley
400 g ground beef or pork
salt, fresh ground pepper to taste
1 egg (raw)
2 or 3 hard boiled eggs

Cooking Instructions

– Soak the bread in warm water.
– Gently squeeze the bread to remove all excess water, tear it into smaller pieces.
– Peel onion and chop finely,
– Chop parsley.
– Beat 1 egg.
– Boil the eggs, place in some cold water, let cool off a bit, then peel them.
– Pre-heat oven to 390F.
– Combine ground beef with onions, bread, egg, parsley, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly with hands.
– Place the meat into a longer fire proof form and flatten it a bit.
– Put the hard boiled eggs in the middle of the flattened loaf, then wrap the meat all round the eggs and form a loaf.
– Cook the loaf in the oven for about 45 minutes.
– Remove from the form and slice it while warm.

Serve with boiled potatoes, and vegetables such as carrots and peas. If you like decorate the loaf to look like a rabbit.