What’s for lunch? Baked meatloaf! Who among us has never tasted a genuine and rich homemade meatloaf prepared lovingly by mothers and grandmothers who, inevitably at the Sunday appointment, bake this fragrant delight capable of calling all guests to the table? Baked meatloaf is a traditional recipe with a thousand variations, such as spinach or scamorza cheese filling or even chicken or vegetable meatloaf, or just eggplant! Secret ingredients are kept in old recipe books or even just in the historical memory of home cooks … one thing is certain and common to all these versions: meatloaf is an easy recipe to make, perfect not only for Sunday lunch but also to enrich a holiday menu. The only undisputed rule: the result of this skilled mix must be a soft and succulent dish to accompany with tasty side dishes, such as Mediterranean-style potatoes, for example. To those who already own the perfect recipe, to those who are still looking for it, and finally, to those who have never tried it before, our baked meatloaf is dedicated to all of you!
Baked Meatloaf
Ingredients for meatloaf:
Ground beef 600g
Sausage 400g
Fresh bread crumbs 200g
Grated Pecorino cheese 150g
Whole milk 200g
Eggs (about 2 medium) 110g
3 sprigs of thyme
Grated nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon
Fine salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
Calories for Baked Meatloaf:
Difficulty: Easy
Preparation time: 20 min
Cooking time: 1 h 30 min
Servings: 6 people
Cost: Average
Preparation for meatloaf:
To prepare the meatloaf, first remove the crust of the fresh bread crumbs with a knife (1), cut it into small cubes and transfer it to a bowl: you will need about 150 g of crumb in total. Pour the milk into the bowl so that the bread absorbs it and softens (2). In the meanwhile, remove the casing from the sausage and mash it (3).
Pour the ground beef into another bowl (4), then add the sausage (5), grated Pecorino cheese (6), bread soaked in milk and lightly squeezed (7), whole eggs (8), grated nutmeg (9), a few leaves of fresh thyme, salt, and black pepper (9).
Knead the mixture with your hands to mix all the ingredients together uniformly (10), then shape it into a cylinder, making sure to compact it well (11). Place the meatloaf on a sheet of parchment paper, brush it with olive oil (12), and set it aside for a moment.
Preheat the oven to 180°C in static mode and then prepare the side dish: rinse the potatoes under running water (13), cut them in half (14), then peel and cut the shallots into 8 pieces (15).
Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and add the thyme leaves (16), coarsely chopped sage leaves (17), salt, and black pepper (18).
Add the shallots (19), season with olive oil (20), and mix everything together well (21).
At this point, take a large baking dish, grease the bottom with olive oil, pour the potato/shallot mixture into the dish (22). Place the meatloaf in the center of the baking dish (23) and bake in a preheated static oven at 180°C for about 80-90 minutes. After the cooking time, remove the meatloaf from the oven and serve it hot with the potato side dish (24)!
Storage advice:
Baked meatloaf can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can freeze it if you have used fresh ingredients. The potatoes can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Tip:
You can use leftover meatloaf to make traditional Milanese meatballs, tasty meatballs that were typically prepared with leftover meat. To accompany the meatloaf, you can also make classic oven-roasted potatoes flavored with rosemary. Instead of whole milk, you can wet the bread crumbs using vegetable milk or water; keep in mind that if the breadcrumbs are dry, they may require a little more liquid. If you prefer, you can flavor the meatloaf with parsley instead of thyme!