I haven't made a meatloaf in ages, so when I saw a nice "meatloaf mix" at my supermarket, I thought, why not? Who doesn't love a big loaf of meat (pork/veal/beef mix) on a chilly autumn day? Little did I know that a blizzard would be blowing outside while I was cooking up all sorts of loveliness inside. It turned out to be just the thing for a snowed-in dinner!
While I was looking up meatloaf recipes online, I came across this one from Emeril, and went from there. (I always like to tweak recipes and make them my own.) It took some extra time, but adding the roasted peppers and garlic in the meat mixture gave it a wonderful flavor--and the sauce...I wanted to just scrape it off the top and spread it on bread. Terrific!
Ingredients
Meatloaf:
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 red pepper, seeded and halved (stem removed, etc.)
1 green pepper, seeded and halved (stem removed, etc.)Olive oil
2 TBS butter
1 large white onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried parsley
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup breadcrumbs
2 lbs meatloaf mix (veal, pork, beef)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
4 slices bacon
Sauce:
1/2 red and green pepper (roasted)
1 roasted garlic clove
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup tomato sauce (I used Four Cheese pasta sauce)
1 1/2 TBS tomato paste
2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 TBS white wine vinegar
To Do:
Meatloaf:
- Place garlic cloves and peppers in the oven, drizzle with a wee bit of olive oil and roast at 400 degrees until 1) pepper skins start to bubble and brown, about 20 minutes, and 2) garlic is soft, about 30 mins. Set one garlic clove and 1/2 of each pepper aside for the sauce.
- Keep oven heated to 350 degrees
- In a large pan, melt butter and cook onions, carrots and celery over medium-high heat until soft and caramelizing around the edges, about 5-10 mins.
- Add herbs and cook for a few minutes more, then remove from heat.
- When garlic is done, remove any hard ends and add the 2 cloves along with the 2 halves of the peppers to the veggies.
- Transfer this mixture to food processor and process until finely minced and set aside.
- In mixing bowl, add the eggs, mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, cream and mix until combined.
- Stir in the veggies and breadcrumbs, and mix gently.
- Add the meat mixture, salt and pepper, and mix with your hands until just combined. Don't over mix or squeeze through hands.
- Transfer the meat mixture to a loaf pan (9x5x3) and gently form into a loaf shape.
- Top with the slices of bacon and then cover with sauce (see recipe below).
- Bake for about 60-75 minutes, or until the bacon and sauce are slightly caramelized and a knife inserted into the loaf comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil and let stand at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
- In small pan, add the roasted peppers and garlic, ketchup, tomato sauce, tomato paste, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, and vinegar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until thickened, about 5 minutes, then process in food processor until smooth.
I served this with my Butternut Squash Mac 'N Cheese and Roasted Broccoli, with Apple-Pear-Cranberry Pie w/Pecan Crumble for dessert. Need I say more?
Yum...
xoxoxo
Yum...
xoxoxo
