Neufchâtel’s Meatloaf
It’s time to address comfort food, and what could be more comforting than meatloaf?
My mother used to make a simple, basic meatloaf. We all loved it. Ditalini makes meatloaf too, but hers is fancier: she puts a roll of mozzarella cheese wrapped in sliced ham into the center of hers, and I’ll post that recipe one of these days. I’ve been craving basic comfort lately, so I started making my own meatloaf using a simple recipe taken off the web. Then, last week, my youngest sister (née Neufchâtel deMenthe) sent me a meatloaf recipe that reminds me of our mother’s, and that’s the one I’m going to share here. Her recipe is sized for a big family, but if you’re cooking for two it’s a simple matter to cut the ingredients in half.
Neufchâtel's Meatloaf
Ingredients
- ½ cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp prepared mustard
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 cup crushed cornflakes
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 small onion (chopped)
- ¼ cup green pepper (chopped)
Directions
Make a sauce by mixing the following ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil: ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, vinegar, and nutmeg.
Combine meat with the remaining ingredients plus half the sauce in a large bowl and mix well.
Shape meat mixture into a loaf and bake at 350°F for 40 minutes. Pour the remaining sauce over the loaf and bake an additional 20 minutes.
Notes
I cut the ingredients in half to make a smaller loaf and substituted the following: a cup of breadcrumbs for the corn flakes and Grey Poupon for the prepared mustard. I served it with broccolini, lightly steamed then sautéed with butter, squeezing a little lemon over the top just before serving.
