Can meat loaf be Greek? Isn’t it All-Ameican? Meatloaf is whatever is say it is, when I say it is. Think about it, almost every culture has some kind of meatloaf, whether it’s wrapped in bacon, chilled and turned into a pate, or smothered in ketchup. This one in particual, does happen to be American, but with a Greek flare. During a VERY late night at a Greek diner in NJ (as in I had a few…BL smoothies let’s call them) I stumbled acrosse this item on the menu. I don’t know if it was the influence of the alcohol or the fact that this item was so good, but I tried to dupicate it for months, and finally did. This makes enough for 4-6
- 1 lb ground meat (pork, turkey, whatever)
- 2 eggs
- 1 red bell pepper, roasted and diced
- 1/2 c. GOOD Greek olives, chopped or sliced (like not the crap packed in water)
- 1/2 c. feta cheese
- 1/2 c. instant oatmeal
- 1/2 c. spinach leaves
- 1 tsp fresh chopped orgeano
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- Turn on your oven and get it up to about 450.
- Combine your meat eggs herbs and oatmeal in a large bowl.
- Add the olives and feta and just give it a slight mix.
- Season with Salt and pepper, then pat you red peppers dry with a paprt towel You don’t want any excess water there.
- Add the peppers and just cook up a little taster piece. When it’s seasoned how you like it, it’s time to build the loaf.
- If you’re doing a full size loaf, take half of the mix and lay it out flat on greased sheet pan lined with foil. The mix should extend to about just under an inch away from each side o the pan and should be about 3-4 inches wide.
- Lay down your spinach. Then lay down the rest of your meat on top of the spinach. Make sure there are no holes. (Seriously treat it like a sand castle, it’s meatloaf for crying out loud).
Building layers - Pop this bad boy in the oven for about 30-40 minutes or interrn it hits 155 degrees internal. The meatloaf will carry up to 165 as its’ resting. If you cook it up to 165, it will just get dry.
If your’e looking for soemthing different, try making this in to the mini version in a cupcake pan. This goes very well with just about anything. Of coruse Tzatziki and hummus are no brainers for this, but I like to eat this along side a nice salad of bitter greens and a lemon vinagrette. How do you like to server your meatloaf? Leave something in the comments.