INTRODUCTION:
Of all the meatloaf recipes, this one is the closest to actually being mine. It is a compilation of many others with my modifications. In my opinion, it is the best meatloaf that I have ever tasted... and that is saying a lot since I really do not have very discerning taste-buds. It takes about 20 min prep and 1 hour to cook.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup of finely chopped onion
- ½ cup finely chopped bell pepper
- 1 tbsp minced garlic (I love garlic so use a lot more)
- 1 carrot, chopped fine
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp freshly ground pepper
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup Ketchup
- 1 ½ lbs ground chuck
- ½ lbs of Italian Sausage (I used mild but some recipes call for spicy)
- 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
- 2 large eggs, beaten slightly
- 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
- 2 slices of old bread
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C)
- In a large iron skillet cook the onions, bell pepper, carrot, and garlic in butter over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Cover the skillet and stir occasionally until carrots are tender, about 5 more minutes. Stir in salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/3 cup of Ketchup. Cook for 1 minute. Let the mixture cool a while so that it does not cook the eggs in the step 4
- Place 2 slices of old bread in the bottom of a loaf pan. You can leave out the slices of bread but your meatloaf will have a lot of fat/oil around it.
- In a large bowl, combine the meats, eggs, vegetable mixture, bread crumbs, and parsley. Form into a loaf and put into the loaf pan. Cover the loaf with Ketchup.
- Bake the meatloaf in the oven for 1 hour.
- Remove the meatloaf from the pan and remove the slices of bread.
ALTERNATIVES:
If you do not like Italian Sausage, you can try veal, ground pork, or ground Turkey. If you use one of these options, use a pinch of fennel seeds and half a teaspoon of hot sauce.
BTW, I hope this is the place to post these recipes. Let me know it I should start a thread for each.