Meatloaf

Old-fashioned meat loaf, perfect with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 0.5 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 stick celery, diced
• 1.5 lbs. ground beef (half beef and half pork is really much better)
• 0.5 cup crushed tomatoes
• 0.25 cup ketchup
• 0.25 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 0.25 tsp. ground black pepper
• 0.25 tsp. cayenne pepper (if you want to use a minced jalapeno, that's better)
• 1 tsp. molasses
• 1 egg

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

If you like your carrot crunchy, leave it out of the first cooking phase and put the raw carrot dice directly in into the final mix.

Heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the onion and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes; add the carrot (if you want it softer), garlic, and celery and cook for 2 more minutes, or until the onion is translucent.

In a mixing bowl add the vegetables to the ground meat, along with the tomatoes, ketchup, breadcrumbs, Worcestershire, kosher salt, black and cayenne pepper, molasses, and egg. Mix it lightly but thoroughly with your hands, shape it into an oval and place it in a loaf pan.

Bake for 50–60 minutes, or until the juices run clear.

Alternatively, you can cook it in your microwave on high for 7 minutes, check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer (has it reached 160°F yet?) then give it another 3 minutes, check it again, and repeat until it passes the temperature test..