Ground beef was one of the less expensive beef protein options when I was growing up, which meant we had it often and cooked in various ways, from hamburgers to taco filling, spaghetti and meatballs to our favorite empanada filling paired with cubed potatoes, or the occasional Salisbury steak, and the many variations of Hamburger Helper. But one preparation was by far the family favorite: meatloaf.
I grew up loving it. Both Mom and Dad, each with their spin, made the yummiest. I could never understand why friends grimaced when I mentioned my love for meatloaf. I finally understood when I ordered it at a restaurant in my early 20s. What appeared on the plate before me was nothing like what I had grown up eating. Instead of the juicy, vegetable-dotted slice of ketchup-crusted meaty heaven that I was used to, I was presented with a slice of unattractive ground beef that had been too long in the oven and smothered in a salty brown gravy. Where were the carrots? The potatoes? The slightly Italian flavor I grew up with? Now I knew why my friends made that face at my declaration of love for meatloaf.
My parents’ meatloaf started with a mirepoix (onions, carrots and celery cooked slowly to soften) and cubed potatoes. They would cut the vegetables just large enough to be identifiable in each slice. Mom and Dad added dried marjoram, oregano, sage, salt and pepper to season.
To help keep the meat tender and juicy while it baked, my parents added a panade to the mixture. Panade is just a fancy term for day-old bread soaked in milk and stirred until it forms a paste or thick, puddinglike mixture. You can also make a panade using breadcrumbs. The starchy paste coats the meat proteins and helps keep them from shrinking and tightening during cooking, ensuring tender meatloaf (or meatballs).
Lastly, my parents always slathered the loaves with a generous amount of ketchup before popping them in the oven.
Making it my own
Experimenting over the years, I’ve made so many versions of my parents’ meatloaf that I’ve lost track. I’ve used turkey and ground dark chicken with grated zucchini for moisture. I’ve done 50 percent ground beef with 50 percent ground pork. I’ve topped it with bacon. I’ve made it with mushrooms, feta cheese and spinach. If I had to choose, I’d say my favorite variation is ground beef and Italian sausage.
What I love about meatloaf is how you can customize it with your family’s favorite flavors. Onions, celery and garlic are a must for optimum flavor and panada to ensure tenderness, but then feel free to run with it. Love Asian? Add teriyaki and shiitake mushrooms or ginger and Chinese five-spice powder. Is Mexican food more to your liking? Try combining the ground beef with chorizo, jalapeños or chipotle in adobo and topping it with salsa or chipotle-infused ketchup. The possibilities are endless. Just let your imagination take over.
And because ground beef is often on sale, once you add in your veggies and soaked bread, it is a great budget stretcher, making it the perfect dinner-party entree. You might convert someone else out there who thought meatloaf was a dull, bland food that belongs in history books and not on today’s dining tables.
Meatloaf With Italian Sausage
I first combine the panada, eggs, seasonings and cooked vegetables in the mixing bowl. Then I gently incorporate the meat, raking it in with my fingers to aerate and avoid the possibility of compacting and overworking the ground meat, which would result in dense meatloaf. Since I’m adding pork sausage, I buy 85 or 90 percent lean ground beef. Depending on what’s on sale, I’ll purchase Italian sausage in bulk at the meat counter or packaged links and remove them from the casings myself. I love serving cold leftover meatloaf in sandwiches for lunch the next day. It’s also great pan-fried until crispy and served with an over-easy egg for breakfast.
Makes 12 servings
1¼ packed cups sandwich bread torn into small pieces (4 to 5 slices)
¾ cup milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1½ cups)
2 ribs celery, chopped (about ½ cup)
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut about ¼-inch dice (about 1 cup)
1 medium russet potato, peeled and cubed to about ¼- to ⅜-inch (about 2 cups)
1 generous tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup chicken stock
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon ground sage
½ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon sea salt, more if needed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound raw Italian sausage (if links, remove and discard casings)
1 cup ketchup
To make the panade, add the bread and milk to a small bowl and let soak while you work on the vegetables.
Heat a skillet with olive oil. Add the onions and saute for 8 to 10 minutes until they’re reduced by half and turn golden. Add the celery and carrots; saute for 5 minutes. Stir in the potatoes and saute for 5 minutes. Drop in the tomato paste and garlic, stirring for 2 minutes. Pour in the chicken stock, stirring well to bring up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Cover, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked enough that they’re easily pierced. Remove the mixture from the heat and spread the vegetables onto a rimmed baking sheet to cool slightly.
Stir the panade, breaking up and mashing the bread; it should be a thick, puddinglike consistency. Transfer the panade to a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon, oregano, marjoram, sage, parsley, Parmesan, salt and pepper; combine well. Add the cooled vegetables, and mix well. Add the ground beef, breaking up as you add, to the bowl. Add the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces as you add. Using your hands, gently rake and fold all the ingredients together and mix until everything is just incorporated. Refrain from squeezing or overworking the meat as you combine, or you’ll wind up with dry, dense meatloaf.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees with a rack in the center and a rack in the lowest position.
Take a small walnut-size amount of the meat mixture and form it into a patty. Heat a skillet with a splash of oil; cook the patty for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until cooked through. Remove from heat, and once cool enough to handle, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed (I don’t find it needs any more salt, but you can add more if desired).
Line a rimmed half-sheet baking pan (13 by 18 inches) in foil. Tip the meat mixture onto it, pat it into a log (about 5 by 14 inches) and top it with ketchup. Place the meatloaf on the oven’s middle rack. Fill a 10-by-13-by-2-inch pan (a lasagna pan works great here) halfway with water and place it on the rack below the meatloaf (the steam will help keep the meatloaf juicy while it bakes). Bake the meatloaf until a meat thermometer (see note) inserted into the middle reads 155 degrees (carryover heat will raise it to 160), about 1 hour. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Note: I use a wired digital probe meat thermometer that I insert horizontally into one end of the log as far as it will go so that the tip is closest to the center as it can get. The thermometer allows me to set the alarm to sound when it hits my target temperature.
Recipe is copyrighted by Anita L. Arambula and is reprinted with permission from “Confessions of a Foodie.”
Arambula is the food section art director and designer. She blogs at confessionsofafoodie.me, where the original version of this article was published. Follow her on Instagram: @afotogirl. She can be reached at anita.arambula@sduniontribune.com.
