"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." ~~Virginia Woolf (
A Room of One's Own)
The nuts and bolts of what I've been successfully doing for about a year now includes much home cooking. In fact, over the past 6 months, I've rather enjoyed learning about cooking. Mark is constantly complaining about the fact that the pantry and cabinets are full of my "obsessions" as he calls them. It's not an obsession or a need to prepare for an apocalypse...it's just that I like to have the ingredients for meals on hand.
I've also spent considerable time creating my very own cookbook. I'll find recipes on the Internet, copy them to a document, change the ingredients to healthier items, and print a copy for my recipe encyclopedia.
One recipe that I simply adore is for a "beefed up meatloaf". I can't take credit for this recipe as I found it on the interwebs...but try this once and you'll be asking why on earth you felt the need to put useless oats or bread crumbs in your meatloaf anyway! And bottled Ketchup, who needs it?! Add some roasted brussel sprouts or asparagus and you have a meal fit for a queen!
Beefed-Up Meatloaf (Courtesy of George Stella)
Ingredients
Tomato Topping:
1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
1 (6-oz) can tomato paste
1/4 cup sugar substitute
2 teaspoons white vinegar
or water
2 pounds ground beef/veal/pork
(Food Lion carries a perfect prepackaged mix!)
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup red onion, diced
small (Mark says onions will kill you, so I leave them out!)
1/4 cup roasted or fresh
red bell peppers, diced (Mark says peppers will kill you as well, so I leave them out too!)
2 tablespoons chopped
fresh parsley leaves (I normally use dried.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly
ground black pepper
1/4 pound prosciutto, or
any type of ham, thinly sliced
1/4 pound provolone
cheese, sliced
Directions
Preheat oven to 350
degrees F.
In a small bowl, mix
together the tomato topping ingredients. Set aside. You may add a few drops of
water to thin to a ketchup consistency. (<-----this stuff is yummy!)
In a large bowl, mix
together the beef, eggs, Parmesan, vegetables, herbs, and seasonings.
Working on a waxed paper
lined sheet pan or counter, form meatloaf mix into a 10 by 8-inch flat
rectangle on the waxed paper. Place a layer of prosciutto slices on top,
followed by a layer of provolone slices. Roll up the stuffed meatloaf mix like
a burrito and seal the edges all around by pinching the meat.
Place the roll, seam side down,
into a 5 by 9-inch loaf pan. Spread a heavy coat of the tomato topping to
completely cover the top of the meatloaf. Place in oven and bake for about 1
hour and 15 minutes, or until the temperature on a meat thermometer registers
165 degrees F. Drain fat and let rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.
PS: I love feedback! What else do you all want to see? Did you try the meatloaf? Did you like it? Shoot me a message on Facebook or a text or leave a comment here! I'd love to hear from you all!
