The beauty in the beast

TASTE:It sure is ugly, but what it lacks in looks, meatloaf makes up for in punchy flavour

I USUALLY RELISH the opportunity to do a bit of research about food. Reading about the origins of a particular dish or the possible health benefits of the ingredients are things I find interesting as a bona fide food nerd. But on this occasion, I have to say I couldn’t believe what little interest I had in my chosen subject, and I could barely bring myself to read about what must be the ugliest dish in the world, as far as your eyes and ears are concerned – meatloaf. Most of the entries on the internet were accompanied by the most hideous selection of meatloaf snapshots. It’s fair to say my stomach turned. Which is all rather unfair. Yes, meatloaf is no beauty contestant, but it’s humble appearance masks a really fantastic slice of flavour.

I can't remember the last time I actually ate meatloaf, and although it pops up now and again in a retro kitsch way on certain American menus, it hasn't got a very nice ring to it. So off I went in search of the best meatloaf recipe I could find. There were two contenders: Skye Gyngell's veal and pork version in her latest book, How I Cook, and Pat Whelan's simpler beef and pork option in An Irish Butcher Shop, a really lovely book for carnivores. I ended up combining the best of both recipes and serving it up with a tweaked version of the tomato sauce that was served with Skye's meatloaf. I have to say that Peaches and I looked at it baking away in the loaf tin and we thought it looked like something you could never serve, at least not to friends and family that you were fond of. But it smelled good and, when it came out of the oven, it tasted great, especially with a big dollop of that tomato sauce, which is now my new favourite condiment for roast chicken and a plain green salad. And meatloaf, of course.

Secondly, for the vegetarians out there who may have been speed-reading the last paragraph or two, fear not. This vegetarian recipe was one that I am now fondly churning out mid-week. Please feel free to substitute a blob of soft Irish goats’ cheese (St Tola would be delicious), or leave it out altogether. And remember that by soaking puy lentils, even for 10 minutes, you will speed up your cooking time significantly. The reason is that heat penetrates water faster than it does air, so by soaking the lentils you help them to become drenched inside, which means they cook faster than if you start cooking them straight out of the cupboard. They also count for one of your five a day, which is an added bonus.

Meatloaf and crushed tomato sauce

We used a 23cmx13cm non-stick loaf tin

Serves 6-8

Olive oil

500g minced beef

500g minced pork

100g breadcrumbs

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

150g Parmesan, grated

1 tbsp sundried tomato paste

Good pinch chilli flakes

1-2 tbsp chopped herbs: we used sage and thyme

Salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 190 degrees (gas mark five). Oil the loaf tin. Mix all the ingredients together. To take the guess work out of it, you should fry a little blob of the mixture, so you can taste it and adjust the seasoning. The Parmesan and sundried tomato paste are quite salty, but there’s a kilogram of minced meat in there, so it does need to be seasoned. But if you’re confident enough, just chuck in some salt and pepper, pour or rather push the meat into the loaf tin, and then bake for about an hour. We covered it with foil at the beginning, cooked it for about 40 minutes, and then removed the foil for the last 20 minutes, so that it could brown on top. It stayed beautifully moist even though it cooked for nearly an hour.

Cool slightly, turn out on to a platter, slice and serve with the sauce. I also let it cool down fully and heated up some leftover slices with some extra grated Parmesan the next day, and it was just as good, if not better.

Crushed tomato sauce

500g cherry or vine tomatoes, approximately

80ml olive oil

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

Big bunch of finely chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

200g black olives, roughly chopped

Few splashes Tabasco

1 tsp caster sugar

Slice the tomatoes in half and scatter on a roasting tin. Drizzle with a splash of olive oil. When the meatloaf is about 20 minutes away from the end of its cooking time, bake the tomatoes until slightly charring. Transfer to a bowl. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well, but try not to break up the tomatoes too much. Taste, season and serve with the meatloaf.

Puy lentils with sundried tomatoes and Cashel Blue

Serves 4-6 as a generous main course

I used the dried sundried tomatoes but you can also use ones in oil. But then you need to reduce the olive oil in the recipe slightly and rinse the tomatoes and pat dry with kitchen paper, as they tend to soak up and ooze too much oil.

500g puy lentils

2 red onions, peeled and very thinly sliced

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Pinch of caster sugar

80ml olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 big bunch coriander, roughly chopped

100g sundried tomatoes, thinly sliced

100-150g soft blue cheese, such as Cashel Blue

If you can soak the lentils for 10 minutes, do. Either way, rinse them well and then cook in boiling, salted water until tender. This will take anything from 15-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, marinate the red onions with the red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar so that the onions “cold cook” in the vinegar.

When the lentils are cooked, drain, rinse until warm, and place in a bowl. Add the olive oil, garlic, herbs and sundried tomatoes, along with the onions and mix very well. Season and serve in bowls with some blue cheese dotted on top.

See also itsa.ie

DOMINI'S DIGEST: Aloe Vera juice. One good splash with your favourite juice in the morning is said to help you detox. I have no idea how sound the science is, but it certainly makes me feel virtuous (and that's half the battle)