"meat-Ralf" Makeover

ratherbecookin''s Note:

I came up with this recipe while working at a small town restaurant. I hated even the idea of, as my mom calls it, "Meat-Ralf" but the owner wanted to add it to our menu. I set out on a mission to create an edible meatloaf. To the delight of our patrons it wasn't only edible it was delicious. Even my mom loves it. For a gourmet twist I substitute ground sausage with slices of Italian sausage links, also diced canned tomatoes and fresh basil leaves instead of tomato sauce.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 ½ lbs ground beef
• ½ lb ground sausage
• 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• ½ cup cream or ½ cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato sauce , hold 1/3 can for top
• 1 small onion , minced
• 2 garlic cloves or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt , adjust to your taste
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne powder or ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix ground meats together until blended well. If using Italian sausage slices brown first and add last to keep them from falling apart.
3. Mix egg, cream, and 1/2 cup tomato sauce (or diced tomatoes and fresh basil) together then mix into meat. Using your hands seems to be the easiest way, don’t forget to wash and remove your rings.
4. Add breadcrumbs, finely minced garlic and onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Don't be afraid to use the cayenne powder its not enough to burn you and it really gives the dish a lot of flavor. Mix well.
5. Form into a large loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour, top with remaining tomato sauce or ketchup, dust with salt and sugar, and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.
6. You can use 2 small loaf pans if you reduce the baking time by 15 minutes.
7. Serve with your favorite fresh veggie or garlic mashed potatoes.

Reviews

[Sydney Mike]

Used the leanest ground beef that I could buy & that seemed to work well enough for me! Instead of a loaf pan, I formed the prepared meafloaf into a shallow dome a round ceramic baking dish & it was done in about 65 minutes! We don't usually have a tomato sauce topping, so that was a nice change of pace! Thanks for sharing your recipe! [Made & reviewed for one of my adoptees in this Spring's Pick A Chef]

[Brenda.]

We enjoyed this for dinner last night. The meat mixture may seem quite moist as you're mixing it up but it does firm up nicely when baked. We liked the addition of the tomato sauce topping as well. The only recommendation I would have is if you have an insert for your loaf pan to keep the meatloaf from touching the bottom use it. The addition of ground sausage did make it a little greasy in the bottom of the pan. I baked mine for about 1 hour 10 minutes. *Made for PAC Spring 2010*