Meatloaf with Moroccan Flair

Amarante

Wed, Mar 01 2017, 9:34 pm

I'm working my way through this excellent cookbook of classic and unique Meatloaf recipes. This was delicious and like most Meatloaf recipes, is deliciously us the next day

Meatloaf with Moroccan Flair

Excerpt From: Frank Bruni and Jennifer Steinhauer. “A Meatloaf in Every Oven: Two Chatty Cooks, One Iconic Dish and Dozens of Recipes—from Mom’s to Mario Batali’s.

Serves 6 generously

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
12 garlic cloves, minced
3 stalks celery, diced (about ½ cup)
1 large carrot, peeled and diced (about ½ cup)
3 inches fresh ginger, minced (about ⅓ cup)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
½ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
½ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup whole-wheat unseasoned bread crumbs
2 pounds ground lamb

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, and once it’s hot, toss in the onions. Stir for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for another minute or two. Then add the celery “carrots and ginger and cook for about 5 minutes, adding more olive oil as needed to make sure the ingredients are well coated and softening.

3. Next, add the spices: cinnamon, cumin, coriander, smoked paprika and salt. Stir them into the mixture well. Lastly, add the tomato paste. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring well. (You can alter the spices here to your liking, adding more or less of those recommended or adding curry powder, nutmeg, allspice, black pepper or cayenne.)

4. Once the mixture is cooked, remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for about 15 minutes.

5. While it cools, combine the fresh herbs—cilantro, mint and parsley—with the eggs and bread crumbs in a large bowl. Then add the ground lamb and the cooled mixture of onion, garlic, spices and tomato paste. Mix well with your clean hands until all ingredients are blended.

6. Place the meat mixture into a loaf pan and cover with aluminum foil. Then create a water bath by placing the loaf pan into a larger baking pan and filling the larger pan halfway with water. (This bath helps keep the meatloaf from drying out by keeping the temperature more even during baking.)

7. Put the meatloaf, in the bath, into the oven and cook for approximately 1 hour 30 minutes. After an hour, check the meatloaf, and remove the foil cover if you would like a firmer top to the loaf. Bake until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F.

8. Remove the pan from the oven, lift the loaf pan out of “the water bath and let the meatloaf rest, uncovered, for at least 5 minutes. If there is excessive grease, which will depend on how fatty the meat was, you can carefully pour that out.
9. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cooled, depending on your taste.