My Mothers Italian American Meatloaf Recipe Epicuriouscom Recipes

OUR FAVORITE MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet or 13x9" shallow baking dish with foil. Soak breadcrumbs in milk in a large bowl until ready to use.
• Pulse onion, celery, and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. (Alternatively, you can finely chop by hand.)
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium. Add onion mixture, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in Worcestershire, and scrape into bowl with breadcrumb mixture. Add beef, pork, eggs, 1/4 cup ketchup, and remaining 1 1/4 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper, then mix with your hands to combine.
• Form meatloaf mixture into a long, well-packed, approximately 5"-wide loaf shape on prepared baking sheet. Brush top of loaf with 1/4 cup ketchup. Bake meatloaf until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 155°F, 60-75 minutes. Let rest 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with more ketchup alongside.
• Do Ahead
• Meatloaf can be made 3 days ahead; wrap in foil and chill, or freeze for up to 3 months.

ITALIAN AMERICAN MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Put the bread cubes in a medium bowl, and pour the milk over them. Let the bread soak until it is soft. Meanwhile, combine the carrots, celery, and onion in a food processor, and pulse to make a fine-textured paste or pestata.
• When the bread is soft, squeeze out the excess milk and put the bread in a large mixing bowl. Mix the pestata, ground meats, scallions, grated cheese, marinara sauce, parsley, salt, and oregano with the bread, using your hands to distribute all of the ingredients evenly. Oil a 10-by-15-inch Pyrex or ceramic baking dish with the olive oil. Form the meat mixture into a loaf in the oiled pan.
• Place in the oven, and bake until browned and cooked through (the center of the meatloaf should read 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer), about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
• Note
• About dried oregano: I typically like fresh herbs, but in the case of oregano I prefer it dried. However, I do not like the jarred product: I always buy a bouquet of dried oregano, from either Italy or Greece. It comes wrapped in a plastic bag and is easy to handle. Just rub the oregano in the plastic between your hands and shake the loose leaves out from one side. Then wrap the bouquet to seal it, and store in a dry place for next time.
• Oregano is great to flavor sauces, stuffing, in braised meats, and on pizza and focaccia. I even use it when I make myself sunny-side-up eggs with grated Grana Padano.

MY MOTHER'S ITALIAN-AMERICAN MEATLOAF

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• 2. Put the beef, veal, and pork into a bowl and kneed them together.
• 3. Pour the milk into a bowl and soak the bread in it, squeezing it into a paste. Add the soaked bread to the bowl with the meat and work them together as though you were kneading dough. Add the cheese, garlic, onion, eggs, oregano, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and knead again until well incorporated.
• 4. Oil a large roasting pan with the olive oil. Form the meat mixture into a large loaf in the center of a roasting pan.
• 5. Stir in the plum tomatoes, tomato paste, and 1 cup water together in a bowl and pour the mixture evenly over the meatloaf. Scatter the carrots and celery in the pan around the loaf.
• 6. Put the pan in the oven and bake until a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out warm, about 1 1/2 hours. If the loaf begins to look dry while cooking, tent it with aluminum foil. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool slightly.
• 7. Slice the meatloaf into servings, put 1 serving on each plate and spoon pan gravy and vegetables over and around the meatloaf.
• Your Nightly Specials
• You can make the loaf with beef and veal only, or with just beef.
• Lay some raw bacon strips over the loaf before baking. (This was one way my mother made her meatloaf extra special.)
• Add some sautéed mushrooms to the pan during the last 20 minutes of cooking.

ITALIAN MEAT LOAF

Steps:

• Grease 9x5-inch loaf pan. Place rye and white breads in large bowl. Pour 1 cup water over. Let soak 5 minutes. Drain off any excess water. Mash bread finely with fork. Add ground beef, onion, egg, Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper and mix well. Transfer to prepared dish. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Chill.)
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake meat loaf 30 minutes. Pour tomato sauce over. Sprinkle with oregano. Bake 20 more minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.

MOM'S MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Put ground meat in a large bowl. With your fist, push a bowl shape in the middle of the ground meat. Take a handful of crackers and crumble them by hand into the bowl shape in the beef. Beat the eggs and add them on top of the crackers, then pour in the milk. Season with a few shakes of salt and pepper and mix everything together with your hands.
• Sauté peppers and onions in a small pan with about a teaspoon of butter or olive oil until just tender, about five minutes. Add about a third of this to the meatloaf mixture and set the rest aside for the gravy.
• In a separate bowl or plate, crush a generous handful or so of the crackers. Form two large or three small loaves out of the meatloaf mixture and roll each in crushed crackers to coat. Melt about a teaspoon of butter in a large, deep pan and brown meatloaves over medium heat for about ten minutes. Flip each loaf with a long spatula to brown the other side, covering with lid both times.
• While loaves are browning on the second side, sauté sliced mushrooms in a small pan in a teaspoon of butter or olive oil for about five minutes. In a medium-sized pot, combine a large can of diced tomatoes, a jar of your favorite prepared spaghetti sauce, the mushrooms, and the rest of the sautéed peppers and onions. Stir and let simmer for a few minutes, then add to meatloaves. Cover pan, turn heat down to low, and let loaves cook through, about an hour. Serve with blanched green beans and white rice.

MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Mix together all ingredients except chili sauce using your hands. Transfer mixture to a 13- by 9-inch glass baking dish and mound into a 10- by 5-inch oval loaf. Spread chili sauce over meatloaf and bake 1 hour.