Description
Discover a delicious Venison Meatloaf recipe that’s juicy and full of flavor. Learn how to make this unique dish and impress your dinner guests tonight!
Ingredients
- – 1 1/2 cups (355 ml) bread, torn to pieces
- – 1 cup (240 ml) milk
- – 1 small yellow or white onion, chopped
- – 1 medium carrot, chopped roughly
- – 1 small fennel bulb, chopped roughly (optional)
- – 1 celery stalk, chopped
- – 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- – 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
- – 2 pounds (900 g) ground beef
- – 1 cup (100 g) grated Italian cheese, parmesan or pecorino
- – 1/4 cup (60 ml) tomato sauce (or ketchup)
- – 1/4 cup (15 g) chopped parsley
- – 1 tablespoon (17 g) kosher salt
- – 2 teaspoons (4 g) dried oregano
- – 3 eggs
- – Marinara sauce for painting the top and serving
Instructions
- Immerse the bread pieces in milk in a bowl while you prepare the rest of the ingredients and chop the vegetables. Process the roughly chopped vegetables in a food processor until they form a paste-like consistency, ensuring the meatloaf remains very moist.
- Warm the olive oil in a small skillet and cook the processed vegetables until they soften. Stir in the tomato sauce and continue cooking for a couple more minutes before transferring the mixture to a plate to cool quickly.
- Set your oven to 375°F. Once the bread has absorbed enough milk, squeeze out the extra liquid, then chop and mash the soaked bread on a cutting board until it resembles a paste. Combine it with the cooled vegetable mixture in a big bowl. Add the ground beef, cheese, parsley, eggs, salt, and oregano, and mix thoroughly. It’s beneficial to mix well in this case, as the bread and vegetable blend will maintain moisture and tenderness, aiding in binding the meatloaf together effectively.
- Coat a loaf pan with a layer of butter. I prefer using a Pyrex 1 1/2-quart pan with dimensions of 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches, but a similar size will work. Alternatively, you can shape the mixture into a loaf on a greased baking sheet. Fill the meat mixture into the pan and bake it until the internal temperature reaches approximately 155°F, which should take around 1 hour and 15 minutes. I place the loaf pan on a baking sheet to catch any overflow of fat or tomato sauce.
- Around 30 minutes before the meatloaf is done (aim for the 45-minute mark), brush the top of the loaf with marinara sauce. Keep additional sauce warming in a small pot to serve alongside the finished meatloaf.
- Once the loaf is cooked, allow it to rest on the countertop for 5 minutes before carefully removing it from the pan. Slice it and serve it with the warmed sauce.
