Meatloaf sounds like a very ordinary and unappetising dish. I have always associated it with USA based comedy shows where children would groan at the mention of meatloaf for dinner. Meatloaf just isn’t a dish I had grown up with – and I was fortunate to have been exposed to a wide variety of excellent home cooked meals throughout my childhood and teenage years. To me, a lump of meat in the shape of a loaf was not an appealing image and therefore was not something I had ever felt compelled to make – UNTIL NOW. Well, what a family-friendly food revelation! My meatloaf was moist, flavoursome, textured and filled our house with lip smacking savoury aromas of beef, sweet onions, herbs and bacon.
I based my Moist and Moreish Meatloaf on Nigella Lawson’s version from her mammoth cookbook, “Kitchen, recipes from the heart of the home”. However, I have changed Nigella’s recipe somewhat in order to incorporate veggies into this dish, which could also affectionately be described as a giant rissole (aptly described by my fab foodie cousin in Perth). See the recipe below for a side dish with a difference.
My roasted vegetable dish consisted of:
1 large sweet potato
1 large knobbly looking celeriac
25 grams unsalted butter sliced into small cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
good grind of sea salt and black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Wash, peel and dice the vegetables into 2 cm cubes and toss them together into a baking dish with the other ingredients. Bake in the oven alongside the meatloaf so that both dishes are ready at the same time. So easy.
Moist and Moreish Meatloaf to serve 6-8 people
Ingredients
4 large eggs – 3 need to be boiled, 1 kept raw
2 large brown onions, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 large carrot & 1 small zucchini grated. 2 handfuls of mushrooms (Swiss Brown or White Price) finely diced.
1 teaspoon sea salt and a good grind of black pepper
1 teaspoon EACH of Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, fennel seeds and dried marjoram
2 teaspoons tomato sauce 1 kg premium mince – either beef, or a mixture of beef and pork.
100 g fresh breadcrumbs – I used day old crusty Italian bread and crumbled this (minus the crusts) into the mixing bowl
225 g pancetta finely diced or the equivalent amount of bacon slices
extra virgin olive oil and maple syrup.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees fan forced.
Start off by boiling 3 of the eggs. Put a pot of water on to boil and once bubbling gently drop in the 3 eggs and simmer for about 7 or 8 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
In a large pot, over a low heat, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and fry the onions, garlic, carrots, zucchini and mushrooms for about 15 minutes until they are soft and glossy.
While this mixture is gently cooking, place the mustard, tomato sauce, Worcestershire and the single raw egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and mince into a large mixing bowl. Add the sautéed vegetable mixture and using your hands, combine the ingredients thoroughly.
Drizzle a little olive oil in the base of the baking pan. Place HALF of the mixture into a baking pan and pat gently into a wide, thick oval shape, making a small indentation in the middle upon which the eggs will sit.
Peel the eggs and place them in a line down the middle of the meat as pictured.
Take the remaining meat mixture and shape this over the top of the eggs into a sturdy, domed oval shape. Tip: Don’t over-work or compress the mince: you want the meatloaf to be formed but still soft.
Scoop up handfuls of the pancetta or rashers of bacon and gently press it across the top and sides of the raw meatloaf as pictured. The pancetta/bacon will crisp up and impart that distinctive Italian bacon flavour, while keep the mince moist.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes and then remove carefully to drizzle maple syrup over the top. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes until the juices run clear when the meatloaf is pierced with a skewer.
Just before serving, spoon pan juices over the top and slice thick pieces for everyone to enjoy.
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