Print Page |
Email story |
Recipe Corner
Italian-Style Mini Meat Loaves
« previous recipe /
next recipe »
Italian-Style Mini Meat Loaves
To Prep: 12 minutes
To Bake: 15-20 minutes
Serves: 4 to 6
By adding packaged
bread crumbs or stuffing
mix to a favorite
meat loaf recipe and by
making small loaves, you
not only speed up the
preparation but shorten
the baking time by as
much as 20 minutes—these
little loaves need just 15 to
20 minutes to cook through.
Season them as you wish; I like to add
fresh garlic and chopped parsley
and often a dash of Italian
seasoning. Begin with ground
round and you will have little
fat drain out of the loaf and
into the pan. What to serve
alongside the meat loaves? Mashed
potatoes—naturally!
2 large eggs
1 cup plain bread crumbs or
stuffing mix (see Tip)
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1⁄2 medium-size onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1⁄4 cup fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 pound ground beef round
Tip: Using a food processor to chop the
onion and parsley saves time here,
especially since the pieces don’t have
to be perfect and uniform, just chopped.
Be careful not to overwork the ground
beef. You want to mix it only enough to
combine the ingredients so that the
loaves stay light and moist when baked.
I am not a fan of sage-flavored
stuffing mixes, so I like to use a plain
stuffing mix or the coarse bread crumbs
that come in bags.
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven
and preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Crack the eggs into a large mixing
bowl and beat with a fork until lemon colored.
Stir in the bread crumbs and tomato
sauce. Cut the onion half in half. Place the
onion halves, garlic, and parsley in a food
processor. Pulse several times until finely
chopped. Add the onion mixture to the
bread crumb mixture along with the Italian
seasoning and stir to combine. Add the
ground round to the bread crumb mixture
and mash it with a fork to combine.
3. Divide the ground round mixture into
6 even portions and form these into loaves.
Place the meat loaves in a 13-by-9-inch
glass or ceramic baking dish. Bake until
the tops brown and the meat loaves have
cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove
the meat loaves from the oven, serve at
once, or let cool, wrap in aluminum foil,
and freeze for a later meal. The meat loaves
will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
|
