The important thing about this recipe is to use fresh thyme and flat-leaf parsley. It really makes a difference. I was surprised at how easy this was to make, and how delicious it is. I'm not a huge fan of meatloaf but we all love it- even Mia gobbles it down! My "editorial comments" are in blue below, just so you know it's me and not Katie speaking. :P Even when I thought I overcooked it, it stayed moist. But now I never will, thanks to LeAnne giving me a meat thermometer for Christmas! Hooray!!
Serves 6
Ingredients:
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 1/2 medium sweet or yellow onion , diced (about 3/4 cup)
· 1 clove garlic , minced (I use the stuff in the tube sometimes)
· 1 medium red pepper , finely diced (about 1 cup)
· 1 bay leaf
· 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
· 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
· 2 pounds lean ground beef (or chuck)
· 2 large eggs , lightly beaten
· 3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs (Progresso makes good ones and the Italian flavor works well, too)
· 1 cup ketchup (you'll use 1/2 cup in meat and 1/2 cup on top)
· 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
· 2 teaspoons kosher salt
· 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or foil). Spray lightly with oil.
Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions, garlic and bay leaf until the onions are tender, about 3 minutes. If you want a little extra flavor you may brown the onions a bit. Add the red pepper and cook until the red pepper is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and let the onion mixture cool. Discard the bay leaf.
In a large bowl, combine the beef, eggs, bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of ketchup, the Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and the cooled vegetables. Use your hands to mix everything together.
Transfer the mixture to the center of the baking sheet and form into a loaf. I usually end up forming a loaf that is about 2 or 3 inches thick, 12 or so inches long and 6 or so inches wide. Coat the meat loaf with the remaining 1/2 cup ketchup. Dan doesn't really like ketchup so I don't use that much, just enough to keep it moist, and it turns out fine; so use your own judgment with this.
Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours (depending on the shape of your loaf), until the meat loaf is firm, or until center of loaf temperature is 160 degrees on meat thermometer (thank you LeAnne!).
Let set for about 5 minutes before slicing.
Apparently ol' Billy likes to have white-bread and mayo meatloaf sandwiches with the leftovers. We haven't tried this but it sounds pretty good.
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