Meatloaf: recipe, ingredients, cooking tips

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

The combination of delicious and quick food is the dream of every cook who wants to get the perfect option with a minimum of effort. Meatloaf meat loaf refers to such dishes: ten minutes for the primary processing of products and an hour for baking, and as a result - a large, juicy and incredibly tasty minced meat roll spreads aromas on the dining table. The dish came from England, although the Americans claim that this is their invention. In fact, already in the fifth century AD, meat loaf is mentioned in the Greek chronicles, so to some extent the recipe for mitlof can be considered Greek. In Russia, there is a similar meatloaf with different fillings, so it is difficult to determine whether this product belongs to any particular cuisine of the world.

Traditional roll

Usually several types of meat are used in the recipe, sometimes liver, mushrooms and vegetables are added, since in its pure form it is quite a fatty food. The meatloaf recipe, which is often prepared in England, is based on two types of meat: beef and pork, which are “diluted” with mushrooms. To prepare it, you need to take:

• 450 grams beefminced meat;
• 350 grams of minced pork;
• 100 grams of mushrooms;
• 1 bell pepper;
• 2 onions;
• 2 eggs;
• 1-3 garlic cloves (to taste);
• 8-10 strips of bacon;
• 100 grams of breadcrumbs or three slices of loaf + 60 ml of milk for soaking;
• a pinch each of rosemary and black pepper;
• 2-3 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.

Spices can be selected to your taste, because not everyone likes the aroma of rosemary, it is easy to replace it with another spicy herb.

How to cook minced meat for meatloaf?

To make beef meatloaf with vegetables perfect, you need to use a meat grinder with the smallest nozzle or even use a blender to grind the ingredients. Pass the meat through a meat grinder twice along with one onion and garlic. Peel the sweet pepper from seeds and cut into cubes 1 cm wide, mushrooms into small slices or also into cubes, the remaining onion into thin strips. Fry the onion in oil in a pan until the first color change along with mushrooms, add pepper and sauté for another 2-3 minutes, and then add the resulting mass to the minced meat. S alt to taste, add spices and breadcrumbs soaked in milk, as well as eggs. Thoroughly mix the minced meat and let it stand for 15-20 minutes at room temperature so that the aroma of spices opens up.

According to the recipe of some titled chefs, a little dried basil should be added, butnot everyone likes this herb, so be guided by your taste preferences.

Forming and baking

As usual, meatloaf is baked in a rectangular shape, which is lined with foil (so that the meatloaf does not stick to the bottom). It is also convenient to use silicone baking pans, although the crust is less ruddy in them.

Lubricate the mold liberally with vegetable oil and place the prepared minced meat into it, tamping tightly with your hands and making the shape of the bread a little rounded. Next, top with strips of bacon, tucking them under the bottom and lightly pressing with your fingers. Place the meatloaf mold in the oven and bake at 180-190 degrees for 60 minutes. When baking, a lot of juice will stand out, but they should not be poured over meatloaf - fat from bacon will be enough.

A few ideas

All meatloaf ingredients, except for meat and onions, can be interchanged, because there are no special restrictions in the recipe. What else can be added to minced meat:

• grated raw potatoes;
• cheeses of any kind;
• sausages, ham and other meat products cut into small pieces or minced.
• cauliflower or broccoli, cut into small pieces or minced with meat;
• zucchini or zucchini, grated on a small or medium grater.

All vegetables can be put in minced meat raw, or you can sauté for a few minutes in a small amount of vegetable oil. It turns out very tasty mitlof with a whole egg inside: it is put inminced meat according to the recipe already boiled, wrapping inside in the center of the roll. If you are preparing meatloaf of a large size, then you can use several eggs laid in a row so that when cut into slices, each piece has its own egg ring.

Christmas bird roll

In the US, turkey meatloaf is considered more popular, which is most often served at the Christmas table. Some argue that the turkey is more traditional in American cuisine, while others believe that this choice was made due to the low calorie content of minced meat.

The meatloaf recipe in this version includes the following ingredients:

• 800 grams turkey fillet;
• one large onion;
• 220 grams of mushrooms;
• 100 grams of hard cheese;
• 100 ml stock;
• 1 carrot;
• 1-2 eggs;
• 1 tsp herbes de provence;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 70g breadcrumbs (often substituted for s alted crackers in the American meatloaf recipe);
• 4 tbsp. l. ketchup + 2 tbsp. l. thick sour cream;
• 2-3 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• s alt to taste.

Step cooking

Initially, you should prepare the vegetables in the minced meat base for the Christmas meatloaf: chop the onion, pepper and champignons into small cubes, grate the carrots and cheese on a coarse grater, and chop the garlic in a press.

In a frying pan in vegetable oil, fry the onion until the first blush, then add garlic and mushrooms, and after 3-5 minutes, carrots and peppers. Simmer all vegetables for about three more minutes.

Chop the turkey fillet with a meat grinder, add eggs and spices, as well as s alt and crackers soaked in broth.

Stir thoroughly, add cooked vegetables and grated cheese, mix again.

Next, put the mass into a baking dish, previously lined with foil. Be sure to pay attention to the corners, because it is their shape that will give the mitlof the look of a bread loaf. Mix ketchup and sour cream and cover the top of the meatloaf with the resulting sauce. Place it in an oven preheated to 220 degrees, but after 10 minutes lower the temperature to 190 and continue baking for 50 minutes.

It's important to know

Sometimes when baking, the surface of the roll is covered with cracks or even breaks in two: this is a signal that the stuffing was too dense, and it did not have enough liquid during the baking process. That is why milk, broth or cream is added to the minced meat during the kneading process. The second way is to use sauces to cover the top of the roll: tomato paste or ketchup is most often used (they give a beautiful crust and a pleasant flavor), as well as mayonnaise or sour cream mixed with garlic and finely chopped herbs, as well as milk sauces with onions. Strips of bacon or pork belly are also a great way to protect the integrity of the roll, but the main thing is to initially tamp the minced meat well into the mold so that air bubbles do not come across, which during heat treatment can contribute to the formation of cracks on the surface.

ReadyMeatlof should not be taken out of the mold immediately, as it can easily break, it is better to wait 10-15 minutes and only then carefully transfer to a flat plate (if there was foil in the mold, this is much easier to do by pulling on its edges).

Usually, meatloaf is served whole on a platter and cut when serving. In no case should you cut the meatlof immediately after removing it from the oven: the juice will flow out of it through the cuts. If you wait at least 15 minutes, then the juice will be absorbed into the crumb, turning it into a juicy splendor.

How and with what to serve a meatloaf?

The energy value of a 100-gram piece of such a dish averages 340-380 calories. Meatloaf is served in any form.

• Hot or warm: with a side dish of boiled potatoes, stewed vegetables or porridge (rice, buckwheat). Given that meatloaf is quite satisfying, it is best paired with vegetables, helping the digestive system cope with so many calories.
• Cold Meatloaf can be used in sandwiches and sandwiches with salad greens, various sauces, etc.

This dish goes well with vegetable cuts of tomatoes and cucumbers, yeast-free bread and various gravies, especially if it is served as a main dish. This is a good alternative to the whole roasted bird traditionally cooked in many households: cheaper, faster and somewhat tastier.