Comfort food. Ah yes. We have our favorites from childhood and adulthood. And the time of year dictates what comfort food you might crave. A crisp fall day may bring back a love for tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Or on a cold wintery night only spaghetti and meatballs will satisfy you.
Meatloaf is another favorite of many and considered a good old-fashioned comfort food. Back in the day Quaker Oats had a meatloaf recipe that was located in the top of the lid of the Quaker Oats container and made a good traditional meatloaf. I still use that recipe. It’s a good staple.
If you want gluten free, be sure the oatmeal is labeled gluten free. Today’s meatloaf recipe has bread crumbs as an ingredient. Just substitute oats for bread crumbs if you want to keep your meatloaf gluten free. You can create a finer oat mixture, by pulsing the oats through the food processor until they are the consistency of bread crumbs.
Here’s a twist on the traditional recipe that still brings the familiarity of comfort food to calm to soul, while stretching the pallet with a few different ingredients. I liked that the recipe has you portion the mixture into individual loaves. This is great for just my hubby and I, making it easy to freeze the other loaves for meals in the future.
A quick tip on tomato paste: When a recipe calls for tomato paste, most of the time a tablespoon or two is all that is needed. Since tomato paste is most often purchased in a small can, what do you do with the other 6 tablespoons in the can that are leftover? What I do is portion out the tomato paste into tablespoons and freeze them. Then when I need a tablespoon or two of this paste, I have it ready to use.
I know you can purchase tomato paste in a tube now which makes it much easier to use a tablespoon at a time. When I consider the cost of a can of tomato paste (usually around 50¢ for a 6 ounce can) to a tube of paste (around $3-5 for a 4.5 ounce tube) I just can’t pay that price for the convenience of the tube. That’s called frugal and by not purchasing the tube I’m frugaling. 😉
Yields 6
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 4-5 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1/2 cup mozzarella
- 1 cup white cheddar grated
- 1/2 provolone shredded
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 flat-leaf or regular parsley chopped
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 pounds ground meat
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon warm water
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Heat olive oil in fry pan.
- Add onions and garlic and cook to softened and golden
- Mix together cheeses, breadcrumbs, parsley, egg and mustard.
- Add cooled onions and garlic.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Gently combine meat into mixture. Do not overwork.
- Divide mixture into 6 small loaves or form one large loaf.
- Put meatloaf on parchment paper lined pan.
- Cook for 10 minutes.
- Brush top of meatloaf with tomato topping (tomato paste mixed with 1 tablespoon olive oil and warm water).
- Cook for another 20-30 minutes.
- Rest a few minutes before serving.
Nutrition
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