Introduction
This Italian-style Meatloaf recipe results in a meal that's high in protein with the concentrated flavour you'd find in many Italian dishes.
We've long made a very simple meatloaf with turkey mince, but I've always found it a little bland and dry. The fact that it's quick and easy to make has kept it on the menu. As always, I knew I could do better.
I knew the dryness to be simply a feature of turkey, even though we always use thigh mince (a bit more fat) and would instantly be solved by using beef mince.
As for flavour, I did a bit of research and found that most recipes were using Italian herbs in meatloaf. As it happens, I have an Italian herb mix in the cupboard that I have never used, preferring to use only dried Basil in my "bolognese" recipe.
The other thing I miss from my childhood were what, in South Africa, were called steakhouse melts, meat patties with a cheese centre (click here to see a bunch of old ads from South Africa, this one is at 7:13... yes, the ads are... cheesy!).
They were a factory-processed food, so I wouldn't touch them now, but there's no reason not to make my own version.
Someone suggested a tomato sauce over the top would add something to the recipe, but I really didn't want to cook a seperate souce, so I simply stirred it all together and put in on top of the meatloaf before it went in the oven. It worked just fine.
Italian-Style Meatloaf Recipe
Ingredients
For the meatloaf...
- 500g Beef Mince
- 1 Egg
- 1 cup Cheese - grated (your choice of type)
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 clove Garlic - chopped
- 1 tsp Dried Basil
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
For the sauce...
Method
Mix the beef mince, egg, Italian seasoning, garlic, basil, black pepper and salt together in a mixing bowl.
Spread the beef mince mixture on a piece of clingfilm in a rectangular shape, about half an inch thick.
Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top of the meat.
Use the clingfilm to roll the meat into a sausage shape and seal the ends (if you've seen baking shows, you'll recognise the idea from swiss rolls).
Place the meat mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC (390ºF).
MIx all the sauce ingredients together.
Remove the meat from the fridge and transfer it from the clingfilm into a greased loaf tin (the wraps from butter are great for greasing pans etc.).
Pour your sauce over the top, cover with foil and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180ºC (350ºF), remove the foil and cook for a further 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven, rest for a bit (it will be very hot in the middle) and serve with your choice of veg.
