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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Meat Loaf Bolognese, Take 2



I botched this the last time I made it, using pork sausage instead of ground pork. It pays to read labels carefully when shopping. It turned out much better this time.

Meat Loaf Bolognese, Take 2
1 tsp olive oil
1/3 c finely chopped onion
1/3 c finely chopped carrot
1/3 c finely chopped celery
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
1 lb. lean ground pork
2 c panko
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp dried basil, divided
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 c purchased spaghetti sauce

Heat oven to 350°F.

Heat oil in small nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot.


Cook onion, carrot and celery 5 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally.


Stir in garlic; cook and stir 30 seconds.


Gently combine onion mixture, beef, pork, panko, egg, 1 teaspoon basil, oregano, salt and pepper in large bowl.


Lightly spray 11x7-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Mound meat loaf mixture in loaf pan, smoothing top.


Spoon 1/4-1/2 cup spaghetti sauce over top; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon basil.


Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until no longer pink in center and internal temperature reaches 165ºF.


Serve meat loaf with sauce.


Magical the difference ground pork vs pork sausage makes! This time there were no weird flavors (like fennel?) only bolognese saucy meatiness. The only glitch in this take was that I didn't chop the vegetables fine enough and I didn't let them get soft in the skillet. Yep, the carrots and celery were crunchy in the finished loaf. Do it like that and your kids are guaranteed to hate it.

There were other minor variables which I don't believe made a significant impact on the outcome. I used Barilla instead of Newman's marina. And for the bread, panko instead of Progresso dry bread crumbs.

Cost:

Total: $11.93 or $1.49 for each of 8 servings.

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