I Love You *This* Much

Happy belated Valentine's Day everyone!  Mr. Smith and I don't tend to celebrate V-day very much  - no gifts, chocolates, or flowers for us!  But, I still wanted to do something sweet for him.  Yesterday I got pretty ambitious and wanted to make a special meal for Valentine's eve.  I found a recipe for Italian meatloaf that I've been wanting to try forever in this month's Fine Cooking Magazine.  I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but DANG that was good meatloaf. Definitely the best I've ever made (...or had, for that matter).  I closed the meal with homemade chocolate lava cakes.  Needless to say, it was a happy Valentine's Day!

Note: Fine Cooking has this awesome tool online where you can make your own meatloaf!  That's all I did, but I didn't use their online tool, I just made it up as I went along.  Check it out when you get a chance!

Italian Meatloaf

STEP 1 - The Aromatics:
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped carrots

3/4 cup white wine

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add all ingredients except the wine and saute until softened and beginning to brown (6-8 minutes).  Add the wine and simmer until almost dry (4-5 minutes).  Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.

STEP 2 - Soak the Bread:

4 oz. sliced french bread

1 cup whole milk (if you don't have whole milk, any milk will work, but whole is better)

In a shallow dish (I used a 9x13" clear baking dish) soak the bread in the milk, flipping once, until soggy (10 minutes).  Lightly squeeze a handful at a time and place on a cutting board.  Finely chop and add to the bowl of aromatics.

- the aromatics & the soaked bread -



STEP 3 - Mix the Meatloaf:

2 lbs. ground bison

1/2 lb. lean ground pork

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 tsp. black pepper

1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

1 Tbsp. dried thyme

1 handful fresh basil

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup shredded parmesean cheese

2 Tbs. honey

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line the bottom of a 9x13" baking pan with parchment paper.  Add the meat and eggs into the bowl of aromatics & bread.  Scatter all other ingredients (except honey) on top.  Use your hands (I use disposable gloves) to gently mix ingredients until just combined. 

Transfer the meatloaf mixture to the baking pan and form into a rectangular-ish block.  Drizzle honey over the entire thing as evenly as possible.

- ready for the oven -

STEP 4 - Bake the Meatloaf:

Bake meatloaf until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the meatloaf registers 160 degrees F (about 1 and 1/2 hours).  Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

- how delicious does that look? -

STEP 5 - Serve!

1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (I used jarred)

1/4 cup shredded parmesean cheese

Slice into 3/4 - 1 inch pieces.

- look at all that good stuff in there -

Put the slices on a plate (I did two per person) and spoon that tomato sauce over the meatloaf and sprinkle it with cheese!  Voila!



- I served it with some blistered green beans... we were happy campers -

 The meatloaf didn't even really taste like classic (kinda boring) meatloaf.  It was like the best Italian meatball you've ever eaten, in loaf form.  The honey carmelized on the outside and gave it a sweet, sticky crust and all of those spices and herbs in the meatloaf really gives it that fresh-from-Italy taste.  YUM!  I hope you enjoyed reading this recipe as much as we did eating it!  Don't get bogged down with all the steps - just make it.  I promise you'll be glad you did.

~ Mari

P.S. I made a mess. ;)