It was Rachel’s turn to come to mine this week, and as she is half american, I thought I’d attempt a classic meatloaf. However, this one has a bit of an italian twist. As I’d never made a meatloaf before, I followed a recipe (well, mostly).

Ingredients

• 50g fresh white breadcrumbs
• 4 tbsp finely grated Parmesan
• 500g pack lean minced beef
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 100g pancetta, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp tomato purée

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Line the long sides and base of a 2lb loaf tin with double thickness baking parchment. Mix 2 tbsp each of the breadcrumbs and Parmesan in a small bowl and set aside. Tip all the remaining ingredients into a large bowl with a good shake of salt and pepper and mix well – hands are the best for this job.
2. Press the mixture into the loaf tin and sprinkle with the reserved crumb mix. Bake for 40-45 mins until the top is golden and crunchy. If the top does not colour in the oven, pop the tin under the grill and brown the top for 5 mins. Cool in the tin for 5 mins, then lift out using the parchment and put on a board. Slice and serve with potatoes and green beans.

I served it with a warm potato salad and some braised red cabbage.

It was actually delicious and Kieran has said he loved it and wants it again, which is always a good sign. The one thing about this dish is the amount of grease the cheese produces, so when you lift it out of the loaf tin, the paper is quite greasy, which worried me to start with. The finished product however, is juicy and not at all greasy. The tomato and bacon flavours really are a nice twist.