Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Italian Meatloaf

One of my favorite childhood dishes is my guama's meatloaf. She makes a delicious meatloaf that is super good either hot or cold. It is good with rice, with bread, with pasta, or even by itself. It is a bit different from the usual "American style" meatloaf, since her version is super tasty and moist and does not need any gravy or tomato-based sauce. When I was in Manila last December, my mom made meatloaf (using guama's recipe) for one of my last dinners at home and the thought of that meal still makes my mouth water.

Today, I was feeling a tad homesick and decided to make meatloaf. Because of the time difference, I could not wake my mom or guama up to ask for the recipe ... so I sorta improvised with the help of a recipe I found online (Chef Michael Chiarello's recipe). This is his version, along with some of my substitutions (I didn't have everything his recipe called for and also I added a few more things I like).

ITALIAN MEATLOAF
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 onion, diced
2 tsps. chopped garlic
1/2 pound ground beef (I used turkey)
1/2 pound sweet or hot italian sausage (I used turkey), removed from casing
*the recipe called for 1 pound ground beef but I decided to use half ground meat and half sausage meat instead.
salt and pepper
2 eggs
3/4 cups bread crumbs
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire
1 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. basil, finely chopped (I used dried)
1 Tbsp. Italian parsley, finely chopped (I didn't have fresh or dried so I just skipped this)
1 cup marinara sauce (I used Sloppy Joe sauce)

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.) Heat olive oil and saute onions, peppers and garlic till soft. Remove and cool.
3.) Mix all ingredients (except marinara sauce).
4.) Pack meat mixture into oiled loaf pan (I also lined the pan with wax paper so I could remove the meatloaf and still have it intact).
5.) Top with marinara sauce and then bake for 50-60 minutes.
6.) Let the meatloaf rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Here it is fresh out of the oven. Now I know it does not look too appetizing (it sort of fell apart as I was cutting it), but it was REALLY SUPER-DUPER DELICIOUS. If you don't believe me, ask Jojo! Even before dinner was over he was already asking me to make him a meatloaf sandwich for his lunch tomorrow! I am telling you, it was that good =)

5 comments:

mom said...

Congratulations! I believe you when you say your meat loaf is good. But for your information gwama's recipe for meatloaf calls for 6 eggs for every pound of meat. Also no marinara saucor sausages to line the center portion of the loaf so that a pattern is formed when you slice it across. Will try you recipe soon.

leslie ty said...

gosh ! I believe you jo ! =) I didn't eat dinner tonight and after reading your blog...i want to run to the kitchen! =) wish I can cook like you...you have to teach me when you come back here ... =)

Junarakasa said...

Hi mom - I didn't place the Italian sausages in the center. I removed the sausage meat from the casing and mixed it in the mixture. But your idea of placing the sausages, sauce in the center and actually having a pattern sounds good, the only thing is my meatloaf doesn't bind so well. I'll have to work on that.

Hi Les! Honestly, my cooking is really all experimentation. And it only happens when the mood is right =) So I'm probably not the best person to teach you ... I think we'd both much rather just eat together! =)

Auntie Lillian said...

Joanne, will try your recipe. The meatloaf looks good to me - guess you took it with your new camera - picture is much more vivid. Thanks for sharing.

joyeee said...

It does look pretty good on picture dets...:) Good job! your cooking skills are really improving now! keep it up! I'd like to try this soon! haha Together with your ubber delish sloppy joe!