An excellent, moist meatloaf with plenty of vegetable flavour - serve a slice hot over buttery mash or perfect for serving at room temperature with crisp salad leaves and crusty bread
Ingredient - serves 6-8
500g minced cooked beef
250g minced pork
250g sausage meat
15g dried porcini mushrooms
1 small onion, peeled & finely chopped
1 bunch spring onions, trimmed & finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 large carrot, peeled & finely diced
1 red pepper, deseeded & finely diced
2 large portobello mushrooms, finely diced
2 cloves, crushed to pulp with a little salt
75g unsalted butter
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp grated nutmeg
5 tbsp piri-piri sauce
5 tbsp tomato ketchup
5 tbsp milk
5 tbsp double cream
3 large eggs, beaten
75g fresh breadcrumbs |
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for the sauce:
50g unsalted butter
4 shallots, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
liquid from soaked porcini
175ml red wine
175ml beef stock
salt, black pepper |
Method
1 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
Soak the porcini in 300ml of hot water. Remove and rinse the porcini under cold running water to remove any grit then squeeze to dry and chop finely - retain the soaking liquor and strain through muslin to remove any grit (save the porcini stock for the meatloaf sauce)
2 In a large frying pan, melt the butter and gently fry the onions, celery, carrot, red pepper, garlic, Portobello mushrooms and chopped porcici over a medium heat until the vegetables are soft but not brown and the liquid from the mushrooms has been cooked away. Transfer the contents of the pan to a large bowl and allow to cool a little before folding in the remaining ingredients - mixing well to combine. Have a taste test by frying a small amount of the mixture in a dash of oil and adjust your seasoning if you think it necessary.
3 Spoon the mixture into a greased loaf tin. Set the tin in a larger pan and pour enough water to reach halfway up the sides of the loaf tin. Transfer to the oven for about 1 hour or until the internal temperature of the meat loaf comes to 65°C. Spoon away any fat that has risen to the top and discard.
4 Sit a weight on top of the loaf after removing it from the oven (a tin of beans on a small board will do) and let it stand in a warm place for 20 minutes or so before turning out of the tin to be sliced.
5 While the meatloaf rests, make the sauce by warming half the butter over a gentle heat with the shallot, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Cook for a few minutes until the shallots are soft but not colouring. Add a good grinding of black pepper, porcini stock and red wine and bring to a simmer over high heat until the liquid had reduced by half. Now add the beef stock and reduce again by about a third. Stir in the remaining butter. Season to taste and remove the bay leaf/ thyme sprig and discard.
Serve a slice or two of meatloaf on buttery mashed potato with sauce spooned over. This meatloaf is also good served cold with salad |
