We ate minced beef at least once a week the kids were growing up. It’s cheap, easy to chew for small kids and makes a small amount of meat go a long way. Spaghetti bolognese, lasagne, meatballs, shepherd’s pie, beef burgers and various meatloaves were all favourites.
Now there are only two of us I don’t cook mince very often. If I did we’d be eating leftovers for several days. So this recipe is for the new generation of small people and their parents. Easy, quick and very tasty.
Mushroom Sauce:
50g butter
500g mushrooms, wiped and sliced
2 level Tbs flour
pinch ground nutmeg
2 heaped Tbs tomato chutney
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk
Meatloaf:
1 cup breadcrumbs
½ cup fresh grapefruit or orange juice
¼ cup tomato ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion, chopped very finely
1 Tbs chopped parsley
1 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 eggs
1 kg minced beef
Preheat oven to 180ºC. Heat butter in a frying pan and cook mushrooms stirring, for a few minutes until softened. Add flour, nutmeg, chutney and sour cream.
Mix all ingredients together for the meatloaf. Put half in a greased loaf tin, make an indentation and spoon in about one third of mushroom sauce. Put rest of meat mixture on top, then bake for about an hour. Stand 5 mins, pour fat off, tip out onto serving plate. Add milk to remaining mushroom mixture, heat and serve as sauce.
Note: if the kids don’t like mushrooms, don’t put the layer in the middle of the meatloaf and serve it all as an optional sauce. For a low carb version leave out the breadcrumbs or replace with some grated carrot or zucchini (courgette).
Variations: use lamb, pork or chicken mince
Serves 6
We love this meatloaf and do just what you recommend with keeping the mushroom sauce separate – the kids can have tomato sauce on their meatloaf and none of the yummy sauce goes to waste!