“Hey, ma! The meatloaf, we want it now! The meatloaf! What is she doing? I never know what she is doing back there.” ~ Chaz Reinhold (Will Ferrell), Wedding Crashers

The writers of Wedding Crashers could have chosen any food for this scene, yet they chose meatloaf. Meatloaf, even the word itself is funny. I mean, doesn’t a loaf of meat just whet your appetite. It has acquired a bad reputation. Born out of lack, its purpose wasn’t to be flavorful but a way to stretch the food dollar. For that reason, many people remember a dense, poorly flavored, ugly slab of meat.

The meatloaf of my youth was flavored with a packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix (marketing genius) and was topped with the traditional squirt of ketchup. Actually, it wasn’t bad, but “not bad” is the best I could say about it. These mini meatloaves are decidedly past that. My recipe inspiration came from my latest Fine Cooking magazine. I modified the recipe somewhat, but what was produced far exceeded my expectations. This is the best meatloaf I’ve ever eaten in my life. Yes! A superlative! A much deserved superlative.

If you have been looking for a new meatloaf recipe, I do hope you will give this one a try. It was fun to make, cute to look at, and delicious to eat.

*Notes on the recipe ~ I made 4 mini meatloaves, but I believe you could make 6 without making anyone go hungry.

*Fine Cooking magazine called for 2/3 cups of oatmeal combined with ¼ cup of boiling water. I used 1 ½ cups of fresh bread crumbs that I made from a ciabatta roll.

*The magazine also called for 1 ¼ lbs. lean ground beef and 4 strips of bacon processed in a food processor (bacon only). I used 1 ½ lbs. of good quality higher fat ground beef.

Ingredients (Serves 4 to 6)

½ medium onion, chopped in large chunks
1/3 cup packed fresh parsley
4 cloves garlic
1 ½ cups fresh breadcrumbs
1 ½ lbs. high fat ground beef (I used 80/20)
3 large eggs
1 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¾ cup chili sauce (I used Heinz)

Instructions

Position rack in the upper third of the oven and heat the oven to 400º.
Grease a large baking sheet with oil and set aside.
Pulse onion, parsley and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. (I also ground up my fresh bread at this time.)

Place ground beef in a large bowl and add the ingredients from the food processor. Add in the eggs, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, and mix by hand until well well mixed.

Shape the mixture into 4 or 6 small loaves and place on the prepared baking sheet.

Spread the chili sauce over the top of the meatloaves and bake for 20 minutes.

Turn oven to broil and broil for 2 minutes longer or until browned in spots.

¡Que aproveche!