Flavorful Moist Meatloaf

flickr.com

 

I am a vegetarian, but my husband is not- by a long shot. One of the dishes he has been missing lately is meatloaf. He has fond memories of good meatloaf from his childhood, but he couldn't tell me how his grandma used to make it and I had never made it before. I figured it was worth giving a shot. So with the help of Chef John from allrecipes.com and a few tweaks to account for the ingredients I had on hand, I made meatloaf that my husband loved and thought was delicious, even though it was a first attempt.

Chef John's original recipe is at the link above. Here is what I did.

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs lean ground chuck
1 bell pepper
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves garlic or 1 tsp minced garlic
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp Vidalia onion sweet pepper vinaigrette dressing ( I used Maryland Kitchen brand)
1/2 c. Italian style bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
fresh oregano to taste
fresh basil to taste

Glaze:
equal portions of brown sugar, ketchup and mustard


Chop the bell pepper and onion small with a knife, then chop them finer in a food processor.

Place the ground chuck in a bowl, add the finely chopped veggies and the minced garlic and gently mix with a wooden spoon. Add the egg, the dressing, salt, pepper, cayenne, Italian herbs and bread crumbs to the mixture and mix in by hand.

Spray a casserole dish and place the meat mixture in the dish and shape it by hand into a loaf. Mix your glaze and apply generously to the top of the loaf, then use the back of a spoon to pull some of the glaze down to just cover the sides. Bake at 325 degrees in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to check that the internal temp has reached at least 155 degrees.

Enjoy.