Sunday, September 02, 2012

Meatloaf.. Italian Style

If you like Italian sausage and do the kosher thing as I do, you will know a butcher who makes it but,  it can also be bought online. It is not that difficult to find and well worth it.
If kosher food is not a concern for you, then any good Italian sweet sausage will do.

Combine 1 pound of lean ground beef
half a pound of  a sweet Italian sausage with casing removed
1 cup of tomato juice
Bread crumbs or oatmeal and since people vary in how much of this filler they add..  you add as much or as little as pleases your palate.   3/4 cup is about average I would say.
 1/4 cup Italian parsley chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh chopped oregano. Just a tsp or so if its dried ground oregano.
3 chopped cloves of garlic
1 large egg beaten
 1 large ripe tomato sliced thinly.
 Spinach leaves.
 Thinly sliced red sweet pepper ,  sliced mushrooms   ... use your imagination here

Mix all the above ingredient except for the tomato and separate into 2 halves.
Place one half of the mixture into a baking pan and shape into a flat rectangle/ Not too thin though. 
Layer the tomato over this half. If you use red peppers and mushrooms layer those now as well.
You can also add left over deli meats at this point if you wish . 
 Just don't make the layer too thick.

Now make the 2nd half of the mixture into the top layer and form into a nice loaf shape.
Top the meatloaf with the glaze
Bake at 350 F for about an hour
The core temperature should be around 160 F. when its ready to serve

Serve with potato or rice and a dark green vegetable.
Make additional sauce if your family are sauce lovers.


An alternative way to make the loaf is to flatten out the entire meat mixture into a long wide rectangle , layer the fillings on top and then roll up.  This will give a pinwheel effect when sliced.

Enjoy.

Close up loose edges to contain the goodies inside.

Glaze:
2 large tomatoes cored and quartered
1/4 cup of dark brown sugar packed
1/4 cup of basil leaves packed
2 Tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce.
Mix all in a food processor for about 1 minute and then cook in a small saucepan until thickened.
This takes about 20 minutes so be sure to stir well to prevent burning or sticking.

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