Italian Meat Loaf
An Italian-style meat loaf of ground beef with soaked bread, onion, parsley and Parmesan, baked, then finished with tomato sauce and oregano. Freezes well before the sauce goes on.
From the recipe book of Sandra Mills, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained cook in our family.
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Sandra Mills's Italian Meat Loaf uses an old trick for tenderness: bread soaked in water and crumbled into fine pieces. It is mixed by hand with ground beef, onion, parsley, Parmesan and an egg, dotted with margarine and baked, then covered with tomato sauce and oregano for the last 20 minutes.
The loaf can be frozen after the first bake; pour on the sauce and bake it from frozen when you need it.
Ingredients
- 4 slices of bread (any kind)
- 3/4 cup of water
- 2 pounds of ground beef
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons margarine
- 1 can (8 ounce) tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon oregano
Instructions
- Soak the bread. Pour the water over the bread and let it soak for 15 minutes. Crumble the moist bread into fine pieces with your hands.
- Mix. Combine with the onion, parsley, beef, cheese, egg, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly using your hands.
- Shape and bake. Shape into a loaf and place in a baking pan with sides. Dot with margarine and bake at 350°F for 40 minutes.
- Sauce. Pour the tomato sauce over the loaf, sprinkle with oregano and bake 20 minutes longer.
Tips
- Sandra's freezer tip: freeze the meat loaf after the first 40 minutes. To serve, pour the sauce and oregano over the frozen loaf and bake at 350°F for 40 to 45 minutes.
- The typed page reads "1/4 t" with the word missing; her method calls for salt and pepper, so it is the pepper.
- Ground beef should reach 160°F in the center.
More beef and steak recipes
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