Meatloaf with spiced tomato sauce
Good old meatloaf.
Many of us grew up eating it – and many of us grew up disliking it because it was so-ooo dry.
Not when you apply this method, however. Injecting moisture into the meat is paramount if you don’t want to be gagging for a drink after each dry, crumbly mouthful.
And I don’t mean using a syringe!
With mine, I like to soak some bread in milk and mush it all up before mixing it through the meat. It’s usually rye bread, but any old bread would do – even the stale stuff.
It’s also about building layers of flavour. I like to fry up some onion and garlic and toss it into the meat as well – it adds depth and soft pops of natural, caramelised sweetness.
And then there are the herbs and spices. Fresh herbs and freshly ground spices win hands-down when all the ingredients get cosy during the cooking process. It’s a noticeable difference!
I’ve been making my recipe for meatloaf like this for ages, and with only two of us in this household, there’s always enough to freeze for a later day. It defrosts perfectly and also makes for a hearty work lunch – something I’ve been doing a lot as we continue to save our dollars for the next overseas jaunt.
If I’m feeling like a decent weekend lunch, I slice off a couple of chunks of the juicy meatloaf and turn it into something like this.
A meatloaf stack!
It’s so easy to construct. All you need is a 4 cm slice of toasted sourdough bread – yes a thick slice – and a few slices of mozzarella. Turn the oven grill onto high, put the toasted chunk of bread onto anything that can take some heat, put one thick slice of warmed meatloaf onto the bread, slap on a slice of cheese, another slice of meatloaf, some of the sauce and more cheese.
Then grill the sucker until the cheese melts and oozes down the sides.
Tuck in and get messy.
*Maitre D’ Mini Casserole supplied by Scanpan
| Servings |
servings
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- 120 g bread
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic finely grated
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 500 g pork mince
- 1 tsp salt or 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 1 tsp black pepper freshly milled
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp allspice (pimento), ground
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese finely grated
- 1 egg
- 400 g tomatoes or use 1 tin crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 60 ml red wine (¼ cup)
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp chilli flakes or 2-3 dried red chillies
- 200 ml water
- Salt & black pepper to taste
Ingredients
Meatloaf
Sauce
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- Place the bread into a shallow bowl and pour over the milk. Squish it around with your hand until a paste forms. Set aside.
- Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium-high flame. Pour in the oil, then toss in the onion and garlic. Sauté until golden and translucent. Set aside to cool as you gather the rest of the meatloaf ingredients.
- Grab a large mixing bowl and put in the pork mince. Toss in the bread paste, salt, pepper, thyme, allspice, parmesan, egg and half of the cooked onion/garlic. (Leave the remaining onion in the skillet).
- Mix the meatloaf ingredients really well and form into one loaf or two smaller ones, depending how you want to serve it.
- Preheat oven to 220°C.
- Grease a loaf pan, or grease two smaller pans that can go into the oven. Place the prepared meatloaf into the pan, drizzle over a little more oil and rub it all over the surface.
- Place in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temp to 200°C, remove the meatloaf from the oven and pour over the prepared tomato sauce, ensuring the surface of the meatloaf isn't left dry. Cooking the loaf without the sauce helps seal in the moisture.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes before serving.
- Add all sauce ingredients to the skillet containing the reserved cooked onions. Heat gently and bring to the boil, allowing to simmer for 5 minutes. Check for seasoning and turn off heat.
