A Mutt of a Different Color–Mutt Meatloaf

I’m German and English. My husband is Croatian and German. My cousins are German and Irish. My one friend is Scottish and English. I have another friend who is Native American and Polish. My dog when I was growing up was a Cocker/Beagle mix. Who doesn’t love a mutt? We’re all mutts, especially here in this country. That means that most of our cuisine here in the US is also mutt-influenced—Thai/Swedish fusion, anyone?

But the one thing US cuisine has going for it most is that mutt pedigree. I think that’s one of the reasons I never actually follow a recipe. I see recipes more as suggestions than rules. A chance to mix things up (literally and figuratively) is always a challenge, garnering some near misses in flavor or texture, but often resulting in many of my now-tried-and-true recipes.

As I sit here looking at the rain coming down outside my window, which in Texas is a rarity, I crave comfort food more than ever. And a mutt-inspired recipe is just the ticket for days that prevent doing anything fun outdoors and just scream for me to hang out and experiment in the kitchen.

So here is one of those recipes that has become a tried-and-true, go-to recipe in our house when comfort food is a must.I call it “Muttloaf”, or “Meatloaf a la Mutt” if you want to be fancy about it. The great thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to follow just one formula for a great dish; it challenges you to play with the ingredients as you go. Either way, it’s a mutt of a different color. And that’s good enough for this mutt.

Muttloaf (aka “Meatloaf a la Mutt”)

Per usual, I bastardized a recipe I found many years ago to incorporate additional flavors. Hence, the name “muttloaf”—it’s a mutt of a meatloaf. You’ll notice that this makes a LOT of meatloaf, but I’m pretty sure that the purpose of a meatloaf is to make enough for leftovers, so this one fits the bill. Leftovers for everyone!

As for making it your own, if you want to change up the meats in here, 2 pieces of advice: 1. Ground chicken or turkey doesn’t work very well because of the very low fat content; it doesn’t incorporate with the other meats very well without that tasty fat in there, and 2. If you are someone who is OK with veal in general, and I know some are not (fine by me), using ground veal in place of the Italian sausage really rounds out the full flavor nicely. I’m sure ground venison, elk or bison would work in here, too.

Hmmm…now I need to try some other options!

• 1# ground beef (80/20 as percentage of meat to fat content)
• 1# ground pork
• 1# ground Italian sausage (see note above about alternatives)
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½ onion, chopped
• ½ red bell pepper, chopped (any bell pepper is fine, but I prefer the reds)
• 2 tbsp. dried basil
• 1 tbsp. chopped Italian parsley
• 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, divided
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup plain breadcrumbs
• ¼ c. ketchup

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Sauté peppers, onions & garlic until soft; set aside and allow to cool.

3. Mix all ground meat in large bowl; add cooled pepper & onion mixture, and remaining ingredients except ketchup and 1 tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce. Using your hands is easiest, and much more fun. Just be sure not to overwork the mixture, as you’ll end up with a tough meatloaf.

4.  Place mixed ingredients into greased loaf pan.

5.  Mix ketchup and remaining Worcestershire sauce in small bowl; top meatloaf mixture with sauce.

6.  Place loaf pan on cookie sheet, in case meatloafy goodness bubbles over during cooking. Place in oven and bake for 1.5 hours.

7.  Serve with your favorite starch (‘Cause who are we kidding? Meatloaf needs potatoes as much as we all do).

Need a quick side dish for this recipe, or any other weeknight dinner for that matter?  Your wish is my command.  Check out the Side Show here!

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