Tuesday 4 November 2014

Mom's Meatloaf

Onions, celery, mushrooms and garlic
Hello lovely readers! I'm really excited to share this recipe with you all since it's one of my absolute favorites. Meatloaf is one of those dishes that is really easy to prepare, totally customizable, and always a crowd pleaser. The recipe below is one that my Mom sent me years ago with a few of my own additions. I also have a confession to share: Nick and I were so hungry when this came out of the oven that we tucked in straight away and I neglected to take a photo to share with you all. Additionally, I realized when I sat down to write this blog post that I had also forgotten to take a picture of the assembled meatloaf before it went into the oven. Oops. But, I think we'll be ok... 

Carrots
I was very relieved that Nick enjoyed this since I think it makes a great winter dinner served with mashed potatoes, gravy and veggies. Really warming and filling, but still a decently healthy meal. And, as mentioned, you could completely customize this recipe with whatever you had on hand - for example, it might be nice to swap half of the beef mince for sausage meat (with the casings removed). Be warned however, the ketchup will get very dark and look almost burned when it comes out of the oven (due to the sugars in it). You could cover the meatloaf with a bit of foil for the first half of the cooking process but I never bother. Also, ketchup is just the easy shortcut where the coating is concerned. If you're feeling fancy, you could make your own mix of tomato puree, brown sugar, cider vinegar and mustard... delicious! 

Onion mix with the bread pieces 
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 90 min
Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 large onions, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, finely chopped 
5-6 large button mushrooms, sliced
3 slices of bread (white or wholemeal)
2 pounds (900g) lean beef mince
2 medium carrots, grated
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 large egg
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp ketchup, plus more for coating the meatloaf
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Worchester sauce

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 350F / 175 C.

In a large pan over medium heat, sauté the onion and celery in the olive oil until translucent. Add the mushrooms and garlic and continue to sauté until the garlic is fragrant and the mushrooms have softened.

While the onion mixture is cooking, tear up the bread slices into very small pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. When the onion mix is ready, add it to the bread pieces and stir to combine. Next, add the carrots, beef mince, salt, pepper, egg, tomato puree, ketchup, balsamic vinegar and Worchester sauce.

Using your hands, mix the ingredients all together until they are completely combined and evenly distributed. Shape into a 4 x 8 loaf and place onto a baking tray. To make clean up easier, line the tray with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Finally, coat the meatloaf in ketchup - approximately 3 tbsp. Spread the ketchup evenly over the meatloaf and then place into the oven. Bake for one hour and a half or until the meatloaf is cooked through. Enjoy!