Meatloafs are controversial; for some it reminds them of their dry and bland school food- so hate it- for others it reminds them of  their grandmother’s cooking – so love it. Let me disprove the former. I start by not adding bread in my meatloaf. Firstly I think  bread does not add much to the dish, except unwanted carbohydrate calories. Secondly it dries the dish out, and takes away flavours. Because there is no bread in my meatloaf, it could be dubbed as a giant meatball, which is what it essentially is – in a log form. This meatloaf is really amazing, you can add or take away the ingredients keeping the same ratio, it will feed and please many, and is perfect for any Sunday night! (that is when I like to make mine at least)

My mom taught me a secret which I will share with you right now:

The finer the chop, the better the taste.

Many aspects of life require patience, cooking is just an example. I understand weeks are long and busy, but instead of seeing cooking as a chore, start seeing it as a fun activity. I know I always phase off into deep reflections or even problem solving. If I have an essay prompt to write, I will read over the question, and think through my answers as I cook. What I am trying to say is that, no cooking time is ever wasted. The brain is quite marvelous at multitasking, let yourself be guided by your thoughts, not too much as I wouldn’t want anyone to harm themselves.

Ingredients:

• 300g ground Beef
• 300g ground Pork*
• 2 Carrots (medium sized)
• 3 Spring Onions
• ½ Parsley Bunch (15g)
• ½ Coriander Bunch (15g)
• 1 White Onion
• 1 Tsp ground Cumin
• ½ Tsp ground Coriander
• 70g Tomato paste

* Can be omitted and have the beef doubled, or have turkey instead, but I warn it will be more dry this way.

How it’s made:

— Preheat your oven to 150°C /300°F —

First, place both meats in a large mixing bowl and with your hands mix both meats until homogeneously combined. What I like to do, is take a handful, squeeze it out, and release, and repeat. It really is the best way to incorporate both meats together.

Then as I said above; chop, chop, chop. I like to start with the carrots, I cut them in half diagonally, then in quarters, then in eights, then in sixteenth ( go as far as possible, as fine as you can) before cutting horizontally into little cubes. For the spring onions, I like to slice them thinly, and then onece diagonally so I get essentially tiny semicircles.Then for the Parsley and Coriander, I like to roll up the bunch really tightly and chop randomly. Then repeat until the leaves are very fine. Finally, I always keep the onion for last as tears are shed. Chop the onion as finely as possible, persevering through the stinging in the eyes.

Once all the ingredients are chopped, add them to your mixing bowl with the meat. Add 3 or 4 pinches of salt, black pepper and a little drizzle of olive oil, and mix everything. Once again, hands are the best mixing tool here. Continue until all the vegetables are all evenly incorporated.

Then, drizzle a little olive oil in a cooking dish, and place the mixture in it. Gently form the meat into a log form, nothing to perfect, we want to keep the homemade effect. Finally cover the log of purred tomato, and place it in the oven.

This meatloaf should cook in 45 minutes.

Enjoy !