It's a real winner, so here it is:

WORLD'S BEST MEATLOAF

1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs - (tear up soft sliced bread - don't use fine crumbs as for breading)
1 1/2 lb ground meat (beef or pork & beef) (about 700 grams)
1 beaten egg
1 onion chopped fine
1/4 teasp dry Colman's (or similar) mustard
1/8 teasp ground sage
1/2 teasp ground thyme
1 1/2 teasp salt

1/4 teas pepper
1/8 teasp nutmeg
1 chopped green pepper
1 tin condensed tomato soup (eg Campbells's)
3/4 cup grated celery
3/4 cup grated carrot

1) Mix meat with egg, add onion and seasonings and bread crumbs, greens and carrots

2) Add half the tin of soup and mix everything well. Turn into greased loaf pan or glass casserole dish 8.5 x 11 inches and pour remaining soup over the top, smoothing it evenly over all.

3) Bake 350 F (177 C) for 1 1/4 hours.

4) Serve with buttered vegetables.

Mustard pickles also goes well and this makes wonderful cold sandwiches next day !

Source: American Pro Footbal Player's Wife in 1963

My Notes:

1) I use 'tomate frito' instead of the condensed soup. It's a rich fried Spanish tomato purée but otherwise condensed soup is good. Never use ketchup !

2) I usually double the amount of the ground spices with the exception of salt.

SharonCb

I have a question. Do I have to use white bread for the crumbs?

Stacy

Here are my own little notes, just FYI -

I put the meat into a large bowl, then the egg on top and beat it with a fork, then sprinkle all the dried seasonings on top. Then I do 4-5 slices of bread in the food processor and then empty the container on top of the meat. Then I chop the onion and pepper in the processor and dump on top of the meat. Then I put 3 celery stalks and 1 large carrot in the processor and process fine and dump it on top of the meat. Then I add the soup and mix it all up with my hands. I don't use my knife for this meatloaf!

I also double the seasonings as Sharon suggests (no salt for me) and I prefer red pepper over green pepper, once I even used canned roasted red pepper when I didn't have a pepper, it was great!

I prefer chopping veggies by hand. My bread wasn't dry enough for processing, so I tore it by hand like Sharon suggested. I think I'll try woodie's method next time. I also prefer red/orange/yellow bells over green, so that's what I used.

Wasn't crazy about the tomato soup I chose. It was Campbell's, but not the regular condensed. It had tomato bits, but I thought it was too creamy. I'll use something different next time.

I've always chopped everything by hand more or less into a brunoise although I use my grater for the carrot. Guess it's just habit as I do have a food processor but don't use it much lol.

Beverly that tomato sauce would probably be very much like the Spanish fried tomato (smooth) sauce I use. It comes out nice and tangy. For that reason I should have also mentioned that *cream of* tomato soup doesn't do the job - it should be plain condensed tomato soup or a smooth and tangy rich tomato sauce.

SharonCb

I'm curious about the tomato sauce you use. Googled and found a site where it can be ordered online, along with a lot of other neat stuff. LOL I think I'll shop later today.

Tomate frito (toe-MAW-tay FREE-toe) is a staple of many Spanish kitchens as it's a helpful base for starting off many sauces. It's made from tomato which has been peeled, seeded, chopped and fried in olive oil and then puréed. The Ybarra company whose sauce you found on that website is an old well-established business whose products, mainly olive oil based, are found in nearly all supermarkets here. The firm started out as a producer of olive oil and has since branched into mayonnaise, tomate frito, some delicious pistos and sofritos as well as other sauces. I use them frequently when I need to make a fast meal. I also use their olive oil and mayonnaise.

Here's what I pulled out of my cupboard just to illustrate that tomato frito is an almost indispensible item in my pantry. I have many more of those tiny tins and usually use two of them for one meatloaf. While we were in Canada on holiday I was at a bit of a loss as I didn't know what to use to replace it. A normal tin of tomato puré doesn't have quite the right taste as it's missing that edge which comes from being cooked in olive oil.

I discovered the name for that brunoise cut when I saw it demonstrated on a Spanish cooking show last year. I also didn't know it had a name lol ! Been doing it for years too.

I sure hope you and Mike and okay and your kitties haven't been too frightened by the noise of the wind !

SharonCb

We're all fine. Hanna & Artie were shuffled in and out of their travel carriers for about a 24-hr. period prior to, and during Rita's passing. Neither one of 'em really fights it, but Hanna usually has a few choice words for her mother. All is forgiven when she can snuggle up to me in bed at night.

I just made it, although it seemed a bit soupy to me, so, I am not sure if I have your "hand" at it yet, and stuck it in the oven to be ready by 4:30pm. We are eating early tonight due to schedules.

Thanks a bunch! It smelled wonderful before it went into the oven, I can't wait to see the final product!

I was skeptical about putting nutmeg in meatloaf, and I wasn't sure I would like the sage or thyme, but man, oh man! It was awesome!

The baby ate it like candy, my MIL ate it, my husband said it was fantastic, and I thought it was perfect!

Outstanding recipe!!!

I wish I could say I'd invented it myself LOL...but it was passed on to me during the 1960s and I've been passing it on ever since !

SharonCb

I also think it would then be better to cook it in two dishes as well rather than making it all in one large dish. It should sit about 2 1/2 inches high in the baking dish.

I good condiment is piccalilli or some other mustard pickles offered on the side along with potatoes.

Good luck with it ! It's very tasty.

SharonCb

I prefer tomato sauce substituted for the tomato soup. But that's the only change that I've made when I make this delicious recipe.

Teresa

My daughter Michelle though sometimes uses this mixture in her lasagna.

SharonCb

Yum!

And the raw loaf freezes very well too.

Soooooo, what is the difference between Tomato Frito, and GOYA SOFRITO? are they the same and if not, could I use this instead?

~mj------->who is now impatiently waiting to make this meatloaf now that I have most of the ingredients. Thanks.

Any non liquidy tomato soup, sauce or even thick puree would work fine for the Tomato Frito - imho. Maureen

~mj------> who is now wondering what I can use the sofrito for?

Sorry I missed this mj ....but Woodie's right. It will turn out better with a concentrated (eg the red & white tin) undiluted tomato (not cream of) soup, unless you have a jar of tomato frito which is nearly the same as the concentrated soup.

Sofrito is a great help for making many things and I make my own or sometimes use a jar of sofrito if I'm in a hurry.

The one I make includes green peppers, tomatoes, garlic, onion and olive oil and I see that's what is in the Goya Sofrito. The other sofrito - eg Ybarra brand doesn't use tomato but rather red peppers with garlic, onion and oil.

Another similar sauce is 'pisto' which uses eggplant, onion, garlic and oil. Some of these sauces are left a bit chunky and make a great base for stews or as sauce for tenderizing meat.

Mj you could use the sofrito for a stewed meat - brown the meat first, add the sofrito and water, put on lid and stew gently until meat is tender.

Good luck with the meatloaf !

SharonCb

I also doubled the spices, but did NOT use any salt as I think the tomato soup has plenty of sodium. I chopped the pepper, celery, onion and carrots in my mini processor. I did not have any bread on hand, so I used some herbed stuffing mix instead.

I only had an orange bell pepper, so I used that. I could see where a different colored pepper would work for more color....between the tomato and the carrots and the pepper, but hey.......DH scarfed down his serving and went back for seconds.

Sharon, thanks for the recipe and the advice on frito/sofrito. I will make this again.
~mj

Great recipe. I'll have to try it again with the tomate frito which sound like it might be a product I should aquaint myself with anyway. Couldn't find it where I shopped yesterday, but there's another supermarket that has a much better international section which I'll try. Thanks a lot!

p.s. Is it just me or is hand-grating celery a nightmare? Next time I'll definitely break out the food processor!

  

Fenworth, I always use the mini processor or just a knife. I think celery would certainly be a pita with all the strings. I thought dh would balk a bit at seeing the bits of veggies, but the flavor is so good he just 'et it up. Maureen

I put the meat into a large bowl, then the egg on top and beat it with a fork, then sprinkle all the dried seasonings on top. Then I do 4-5 slices of bread in the food processor and then empty the container on top of the meat. Then I chop the onion and pepper in the processor and dump on top of the meat. Then I put 3 celery stalks and 1 large carrot in the processor and process fine and dump it on top of the meat. Then I add the soup and mix it all up with my hands. I don't use my knife for this meatloaf!

I also double the seasonings as Sharon suggests (no salt for me) and I prefer red pepper over green pepper, once I even used canned roasted red pepper when I didn't have a pepper, it was great!

This looks like a great recipe. I love to lay good meaty bacon over the top of my meatloaf, it adds great flavor...can't wait to try this recipe. I love meatloaf sandwiches!

Sharon writes......

" My Notes:

1) I use 'tomate frito' instead of the condensed soup. It's a rich fried Spanish tomato purée but otherwise condensed soup is good. Never use ketchup !

I defer to the master meatloafer! LOL

Would like to do several of your meatloafs BUT would have to cook before refreezing. How does it do if frozen when already cooked?

rosecmd - Generally I like the bacon thing. I also generally tend towards fattier chopped meat for flavor. But this is one meatloaf that was juicy, flavorful, and delicious even though I went with 93% lean. Save the bacon for Sunday brunch. In this particular case we can truly enjoy a meatloaf dinner that can arguably be called healthy!

- James

Sharon I have to admit that I've never had it in the freezer. We always seemed to eat it up on the day I made it and the following days hot and in cold sandwiches.

I've also ended up chopping the celery very finely with a large chef's knife instead of grating when the celery is stringy. We often don't get celery here year round as for some reason it goes bad before it hits the supermarkets, so I sometimes use my wild celery (web photo of celery like mine) which I grown in a pot. It is quite leafy and has a pungent celery aroma and flavour so I often mince pieces of that together with whatever stalk celery I can find.

SharonCb

and I know I'll have lots left over but any idea how long I should cook a portion of this goodie in these little pans?
(My great intentions for Valentines' Day were delayed by the snow...) Maureen

SharonCb

i used 2 pounds of 90% lean ground beef and 1 pound of plain ground pork, and used a mandoline to dice the veggies (because it's a whole lot faster than i am with a knife!). for the tomato frito i used a can of progresso's tomato with basil soup (it's ready to eat which obvioulsy wouldn't be as thick as a can of condensed soup). it fit very comfortably into a 7 1/2" x 11" pryrex baking dish and was done in either 55 or 60 minutes. for us, the taste and texture were just right and i'm sure will make some great sandwiches. thanx, sharon!

SharonCb