Meatloaf

Meatloaf needs no introduction whatsoever. According to Wikipedia, meatloaf originated in Europe, mainly in Germany and Belgium and is also closely related to Dutch meatball. Although, in the 5th century Roman cookery collection called Apiciusas, minced meat was mentioned. The infamous American meatloaf has its origins in scrapple, a mixture of ground pork and cornmeal served by German-Americans in Pennsylvania since Colonial times. Actually, the contemporary version of the American meatloaf has been a must on every American cookbook since the late 19th century. In our version we used only beef but feel free to mix two or three types of meat like lamb or even pork. We found this recipe when we got married in one of Amanda's cookbooks and we adapted it and made it our own ever since. Just give our version a try and you will love it. We serve it with a kind of sweet and sour tomato sauce. So for a loaf you will need...

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 green pepper, finely diced [optional]
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1kg minced beef
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs [we used Panko]
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Freshly ground pepper

• 1 cup tomato passata
• 1 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp vinegar
• About 4-5 baby onions, boiled, to serve

How to...

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. 
2. In a small pan heat the butter and fry the onion, green pepper [if using] and garlic until soft. When done set aside to cool a bit.
3. In a large mixing bowl put the beef, cooked onion, pepper & garlic, beaten egg, breadcrumbs, Worcestershire sauce, oregano and black pepper. Mix well with your hands until well mixed (if you do not like messing your hands up use a wooden spoon) but I believe using your hands will infuse the meat with all the flavours.
4. Now transfer the meat mixture into a loaf pan and press down with your hands. Bake in the preheated oven for about an hour and 15 minutes.. 
5. In the meantime, put the passata, vinegar, sugar and mustard in a small pan and heat through. Set aside.
6. When the loaf is done, drain all the excess fat and carefully invert upside down on a serving plate, top with the tomato sauce and onions. Serve hot!!

Enjoy!!

R&A