I just purchased A Meatloaf in Every Oven written by Frank Bruni and Jennifer Steinhauer. I love meatloaf and it is the quintessential comfort food bringing back all the flavors of my childhood. I don’t remember exactly how my Mother prepared it but I loved eating it for dinner and having cold left-overs the next day. I have other meatloaf recipes on my blog that are also worth checking out. This one was originally written as Leslie Bruni’s Meatloaf but I made a few changes to the original recipe. I made it both ways and I loved the way I made it last night with Beef, Lamb and Pork. It’s rich and delicious. Who doesn’t love meatloaf? If you are in the mood for some serious comfort food this is my suggestion. And check out the fabulous book available everywhere books are sold and Amazon.

There are a lot of ingredients but I stock a loaf of white bread in my freezer just for times like this. You’ll need some whole milk as well. This isn’t the recipe for dieting I’m afraid, but sometimes you just gotta go for it. Ain’t nothing like the real thing.

Enjoy! and let the comfort begin.

Ingredients:

I used 1 lb. Ground Beef Chuck, 1/4 lb. ground lamb, 1/4 lb. ground pork –you can just use 1 1/2 lbs. of Ground Beef Chuck or Dark Meat Turkey if you’d prefer. This recipe is for 1 1/2 lbs. meat.

1 medium onion-minced , so if you buy it diced give it some more cutting and get it into small pieces

1 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter

1 cup plain tomato sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar

1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard

1 1/2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar–dark or light doesn’t really matter but if you’re going to go shopping  buy light brown sugar, I think it looks better

1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

3 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed and bread torn

1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs – I used what is known as “traditional ” bread crumbs, just don’t use flavored – you already have enough flavoring and it will add too much salt

with sauce on top ready for oven

meatloaf plated up

meatloaf before sauce

1/2 cup whole milk

2 large eggs , lightly beaten

2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a 9×13 with aluminum foil, lightly spray with a nonstick cooking spray. In a medium skillet, melt the butter. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally. I like the onions completely transparent and softened (not browned). App. 10 minutes and set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the tomato sauce with the brown sugar, vinegar, mustard and Worcestershire Sauce.

In another small mixing bowl, dip the torn white bread in the 1/2 cup whole milk, then gently squeeze out the liquid with your clean hands . Transfer the bread to a large bowl and discard the excess milk. Add the onion, meat, breadcrumbs, eggs, salt and pepper and 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce mixture and mix until just combined.

*a little trick if you’re mixing meats like I did. Take small pieces of each different meat to mix together so that it’s well combined

Transfer to the pan. Firmly pat the meat mixture into a loaf , app. 9×5 should do it. See pictures of my loaf. Spread the remaining sauce over the top. Bake for 1 hour and check temperatures on an instant read thermometer inserted in the center should register 160 degrees. Let rest for 10 minutes and slice and serve. If it’s not cooked after an hour put back for 10 minutes at a time till your meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees.

I served with burnt broccoli and smashed potatoes! Yum!

*should serve 4-6 nicely depending on your eaters