Can we talk meatloaf?

I remember years ago a great recipe from Jenise I think, had Italian sausage in it I believe?
Local retirement home wants me to provide a special lunch so thought meatloaf.
Any recipe or thoughts welcome but keep the price down please! Also method of cooking, guess wrap in tinfoil and cook in the oven.

[Jenise]

That was the Armandino Batali meatloaf and I posted it with the title Best Meatloaf Ever. Indeed it was. May have gotten lost with the separation from FLDG classic. Maybe someone else can look around? I am leaving for Seattle in minutes and can't. At worst, maybe tomorrow I can call Armandino and get it direct from him.

I saved it in MSWord and have made it several times and used it to make meatballs.
Best Meat Loaf

This was adapted from a recipe by Mario Batali's father Armandino, himself a restaurateur in Seattle. This version reduces the quantity and the fat and makes some minor changes that with all due respect, made a great thing even better.

1-1.25 lb extra lean ground beef
3 sweet Italian sausage, casings removed, crumbled
1 cup grated skim milk mozzarella (kind of packed, don't be afraid of putting in too much)
3 Tblsp dried basil (generous)
1 Tblsp dried oregano (generous)
1 medium onion, finely diced and sweated in 1 tblsp butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1.5 cups fresh breadcrumbs
3/4 c. finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 c. V-8, divided
2 eggs
1/2 c. dry white wine

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Gently combine all but the last three ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Separately, mix half the V-8 with the eggs and wine, then fold into the meat mixture. Form a loaf, then rub the remaining V-8 over the loaf. Sprinkle a little extra salt, pepper and oregano over the top to give the crust added flavor.

Pop into your hot oven and bake for one hour. Turn oven off and open door slightly to let the loaf rest before slicing, about 15 minutes.

If you're used to meat loaf having a gravy and are concerned that this one will be dry without same, worry not. This meatloaf is so moist it oozes, and a sauce would be gratuitous. Try serving over a puddle of soft, steamed zucchini.

Oh, and it's fantastic cold.

Serves six.

[Jenise]

Bless you, Howie!

Hi Bob,
Jenise recipe via Howie sounds good, should be nice and moist.
I would suggest cooking in loaf pans, allow some resting time, then you should get nice even slices for service. Could even cook in advance, portion and warm. Depends how many serves are needed.

[Jenise]

Barb's right that loaf pans give uniformity.

Would not cover. The crust that meatloaf builds up while baking is divine; you don't want to miss out on that.

My wife has used Jenise's recipe for years and it's great.

[Jenise]

It's Armandino's! All I can take credit for is sharing it. I love this stuff--if my mom had made meatloaf like this I'd have grown up loving it, vs. eating the tiniest piece I could get away with having to eat with a fork in one hand and a glass of water in the other. My father eventually took my water away from me.

I made this meatloaf last week (for the umpteenth time) and it was as fantastic as ever. I've not tried it in a loaf pan yet, just freeform, but it sounds worth trying.

[Jenise]

I made this meatloaf last week (for the umpteenth time) and it was as fantastic as ever. I've not tried it in a loaf pan yet, just freeform, but it sounds worth trying.

I always do freeform because I crave the exterior crust.

I often make mine in a Pullman loaf pan, because my wife loves cutting perfectly square slices for her sandwiches *sigh*.

Is it really meatloaf if you don't use a Pullman pan?

Is it really meatloaf if you don't use a Pullman pan?

Lol. Point taken. My mom always made it in a large bread loaf pan, in classic Americana fashion, so that's what I was already used to. Out on my own I started making it free-form, like a lot of the people above do. But one time when I had to cook for a crowd I grabbed that Pullman, and it was like a veil had been lifted from my wife's eyes. "It exactly fits the shape of the bread!!" I've made it in a regular loaf pan a few times, but the heart rending sadness in her eyes when she see's the rounded bottom corners leave an eight of an inch of bread exposed is too much to bear. So it's back to Ol' Pully

Freeform? What does that even mean? You shape the meat into an oven dragon, like bakers do with leftover dough?

I think the 'loaf' in 'meat loaf' implies use of a loaf pan.

Freeform? What does that even mean? You shape the meat into an oven dragon, like bakers do with leftover dough?

I think the 'loaf' in 'meat loaf' implies use of a loaf pan.

I see you're point, but I think the word "loaf" long ago stopped meaning exclusively that one shape. We call a boule bread a "loaf", don't we? I mean, it's kinda gone the way of "Scotch Tape", y'know?

And an oven meat dragon would be awesome! Thanks for my next project!

[Jenise]

Yes, a boule is a 'loaf'. As is, among many, a focaccia, a batard, a--this is going to hit close to home, Jeff--challah! Pullman loaves are the dodo birds of bread! Not unuseful, but absolutely no longer standard. And where go freeform bread doughs, so goes the meat loaf. However if the 'f' word bothers you, you could always call it 'artisanal'.

Here, let me help you:

Best Meat Lump

This was adapted from a recipe by Mario Batali's father Armandino....

[Jenise]

LOL. It's not a lump, it's an artisanal loaf. It's meat art.

True story: back when I was in high school I was a very popular babysitter because I could actually cook dinner. One particular family especially--the kids loved being in the kitchen but their mother was a very nervous cook and she wouldn't allow them near it. Me? Other way around, I loved playing in the kitchen. I'd think of projects and Mrs. Metzler would leave all the ingredients I asked for. We did lots of hands-on stuff like popcorn balls and taffy, and cakes and meatloaves in animal shapes. So much fun!

You sound like a lot more fun than my babysitters ever were.

[Jenise]

You sound like a lot more fun than my babysitters ever were.

I didn't have fun babysitters either.

But I would even babysit for entire weekends. The Metzler kids couldn't wait for their parents to leave--it was a vacation for them, too. (And me as well, as home life wasn't so great.)

[Jenise]

Participating in this thread has resulted in me getting side bar ads from Golden Corral. Egads--but amusing.

Participating in this thread has resulted in me getting side bar ads from Golden Corral. Egads--but amusing.

Ooo! Try the meatloaf!

[Jenise]

Participating in this thread has resulted in me getting side bar ads from Golden Corral. Egads--but amusing.

Ooo! Try the meatloaf!

I'd have never thought of that!

Thank god there are no Golden Corrals where I live. Not much else either--but no Golden Corrals. (Why does that now sound like something from a Russian dossier?)

(Why does that now sound like something from a Russian dossier?)

BWA-HAHAHAAAAAAAAA!