Meatloaf

"Oh what'da call that love?" "...rissoles?".  Well, this rissole got a spruce up and rolled into a log and we here y'all call it meatloaf!  Tastes a treat and I am now a BIG meatloaf fan.  Still hate the band (sorry, can't win me over that easily) but this was delicious!!!  We ate it for lunch again the next day on thick toast with gravy and OMG, so scrummy.

Some may wonder why the recipes have been slow coming lately, some might be FB friends and now all about my every move.  Well for those of you who aren't, we took the family to Disney World in September for 5 days and then picked up an RV and drove back from Orlando to Milwaukee through the South.  Had an amazing time and although I didn't eat too many things on our journey I really wanted to write home about, I did try meatloaf at the Cracker Barrel in Indiana on the way home and it sparked some creative juices in me to help deliver this little number.  I was suitable impressed with the ease and simplicity of it for a family meal and will definitely be doing more along these lines in future.  You could obviously substitute ground turkey, chicken or pork for a lighter feel if you prefer and since I have my lovely sister-in-law staying with us who is vegetarian, I did a version of this using israeli cous cous and stuffed a red pepper (capsicum) for her in the same style.  I'll post that dish separately for you soon.  But for now, here it is - I don't think I'd change a thing.  The girls didn't totally get on board with this but they will, I put it down to first time nerves... although there is nothing scary about this, the flavors are mild yet interesting enough to leave us adults wanting more. Doesn't look like the prettiest thing on the menu but we can't deliver restaurant looking meals every night... don't want to spoil them too much!

Serve 4

Ingredients:

1 lb (500g beef + pork total)  I used 2/3 beef.

1/2 onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tblspn extra virgin olive oil

1/2 green pepper, finely diced

1/2 red pepper, finely diced

1/2 cup mushrooms, blitz in a mini-processor

3/4 zucchini, grated

1 cup puree carrots (or blitz in a mini-processor)

2 tblspn worcestershire sauce

1 fresh red chili pepper, finely diced (optional)

1 tspn of freshly chopped thyme

1/2 tspn fresh chopped rosemary, or dried if you need

2 tblspn freshly chopped parsley

salt and pepper

1 egg

2/3 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 cup milk

Topping:

1/3 cup V8 tomato and herb soup or V8 Original juice

2 tblspn brown sugar

1 tspn dry mustard powder

Method:

• Pre heat oven to 350'F (180'C)
• Finely dice your onion.  Heat a small pan on the stove, add olive oil and cook onion until tender.  Add chopped garlic, thyme and rosemary and continue cooking for a minute or two.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Line a loaf tray with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray
• In a mini food processor, blitz the mushrooms, carrots (if not using puree) and peppers.
• Grate the zucchini using a fine box grater for best results.
• In a large bowl, mix the uncooked meat, all vegetables, including cooled onion, chili, parsley worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and mix through well until all combined.
• Add the egg, breadcrumbs and milk and mix again.  
• It will look and feel quite moist but you want it this way to ensure it doesn't dry out while cooking.
• Mold your mixture into the loaf tray and bake uncovered for 15mins in the preheated oven. 
• Mix together all the ingredients in the tomato topping 
• After the first 15mins, pour the tomato sauce topping mixture over the meatloaf and continue baking for another 45mins at 350'F. 
• To finish cooking, at 1hr - turn the heat to 400'F and continue to bake for approx 10-15mins or until the internal temperature reaches 160'F or 70'C

To serve, slice thick slices and serve with mash potatoes, green beans or other steamed vegetables and a lovely rich gravy.