Meatloaf

Serves 12

Frankly speaking, meatloaf is a dish I never got after until my fourth decade. After having it for the first time, I realized what I had missed out on for so many years. I like to mix three meats, roasted vegetables and a slathering of ketchup, along with balsamic and parmesan cheese.  It’s great for a weekday meal if a hungry crowd is coming over for some casual eats.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1 pound ground veal
• 1 1/4 pounds ground 85:15 ratio ground beef
• 1 each of a red and orange bell pepper, seeded, finely chopped
• 1 medium red onion peeled, finely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoons of red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• Olive oil
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh thyme leaves, removed from stem and chopped
• 1 cup of panko bread crumbs
• 1 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 2 cups of ketchup ketchup
• Roughly a half cup of good balsamic vinegar

Making it

• Use a full baking sheet line with parchment and spread the peppers and onion evenly.  Drizzle a bit of the balsamic, two tablespoons of olive oil, red paper flakes, garlic, and then salt and pepper.  Bake in an 425 degree over for 8 minutes. Take out and cool,
• Mix the three meats, eggs, thyme, bread crumbs and 1/2 of the parmesan and 2/3 cup of ketchup,  cooled vegitables, 3 tablespoons of balsamic together by flaking it with a fork so you do not compact the meat.  You do not want to end up with a brick.
• Take a baking sheet and line with parchment and form the loaf on the sheet
• Take the rest of the ketchup, parmesan cheese and 1 1/2 tablespoon for balsamic and mix in a bowl and slather over the meat
• Set the oven to bake at 425 degrees and roast on the middle rack for 60-75 minutes.  Let rest and serve

I like to serve with a salad and nothing else. You can always add a starch but this meatloaf is full of flavor it can carry the meal. If you want to whip up a Mac ‘n cheese then try this.