Daria's Famous Meatloaf Recipe

It's no secret how much I (Ken here) love Daria's cooking. So I thought it was time to share one of my favorites from her kitchen: meatloaf!

We love this recipe because it's something we can do together. The other wonderful benefit is that because it makes such a large loaf, we can feed anyone who drops in at dinner time or, better yet, have lots of slices left over for yummy sandwiches the next day! Here it is:

3 tbl olive oil
3/4 cup each of finely chopped scallions and onions
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
2 tsp. minced garlic
3 eggs, well-beaten
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 lbs. lean ground beef
12 oz. bulk sausage broken up
3/4 cups breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add onion, scallions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool then cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degress.

In a bowl, beat the eggs, ketchup,half-and-half, nutmeg,salt and pepper together. Add the ground beef, sausage, breadcrumbs and chilled vegetables. (This is where Ken comes in.) Mix all the ingredients with your hands for about 5 minutes.

Form the mixture into a loaf on a baking sheet. (It is a large loaf.)

Bake at 350 degrees about 1 hour (160 degrees on a meat thermometer).

Let it rest for about 15 minutes, slice and serve.

Leftovers can also be frozen and later defrosted for a quick and easy "microwave" dinner on one (or more!) of those hectic days when you're too tired to cook or too tired to go out. Just microwave a slice or two for a couple of minutes, make a salad, pour a glass of red wine and you have a home-cooked meal after a busy day!

We want to know which foods get your taste buds twitching! Email us your favorite recipes and we'll share them right here on Dolans.com.