Meat loaf with tomato sauce

Let the family feast on this deliciously moist meatloaf, served with a rustic tomato sauce. It's a great recipe for getting the kids involved with - they'll love combining the mince mixture with their hands - and leftovers are extra tasty the next day.

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef mince
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper, to taste

Tomato sauce

• 1 onion, diced
• 50 g butter
• 1 garlic clove
• 50 g brown sugar
• 100 ml white wine vinegar
• 1 kg roma tomatoes, seeds removed and roughly chopped into 6 pieces
• sea salt, to taste
• 2 fresh bay leaves, slightly crushed
• ½ bunch basil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C. Make up a suitably sized water bath and place into the oven.

Place beef mince into a mixing bowl and add onion, crushed garlic, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, parsley, breadcrumbs, eggs, and salt and pepper. Mix well.

Place the beef mixture into a lightly oiled loaf or terrine mould and then place the mould into the hot water bath and bake for 50 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before turning out onto serving plate. Set to one side and keep warm.

Meanwhile, to make the tomato sauce, saute the onion in melted butter over a moderate heat for approximately 2 minutes until soft. Add the crushed garlic and sauté for a further minute. Then add the brown sugar and vinegar. Allow to reduce, stirring regularly until thick and syrupy.

Add chopped tomatoes, salt and bay leaves. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and stir tomatoes regularly for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add the basil. Allow to cool and remove the bay leaves and basil. Check seasoning before pouring sauce over the meat loaf to serve.

Garnish with some fresh basil leaves.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.