When I was a child, meatloaf was a staple in my home. I don’t know my mom’s recipe so I rarely make it. When I found this recipe in The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, I was excited to try it.

The cookbook offers a few variations of its standard recipe. I chose Meat Loaf with Parsley and Tomato. I chose to remain light (1/2 teaspoon of dried) on the parsley because it called for ¼ cup of minced parsley and I know from past experience that this seasoning packs of lot of flavor.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Chop one onion and set aside. (I didn’t use the whole onion because it was too much for my taste. Instead I used about ¾ of a medium-sized onion.)

Prepare two cups of freshly made bread crumbs or buy them. I like the flavor of Panko bread crumbs, so I used them. (It was a great choice!)

Butter two loaf pans or use cooking spray.

Mix together 2 cups of bread crumbs with the reserved chopped onion. Add 2 pounds of ground beef and mix together. (I find using my hands is easier than a spoon.)

Then stir in 2 slightly beaten eggs, 1 ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon parsley, ½ teaspoon basil, and ¾ cup tomato sauce. Blend this all together.

Divide it into two and pat it into place in the loaf pans. Pour ¾ cup tomato sauce on the top of the unbaked loaves.

Bake for 45 minutes.

This is a good recipe. I liked the texture. When hot, I tasted the basil and thought about omitting it for the next time. Then I had a cold meatloaf sandwich the next day. Yum! The basil is not as strong in cold meatloaf.

This comforting dish gave me a nostalgic feeling for all those childhood suppers. I hope you enjoy it, too.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.