(bright guitar music) - The first written recipe
that combined ground meat with breadcrumb and spices
dates back to the Romans. But, it's easy to imagine that this kind of dish
that combines valuable meat with easier to find ingredients probably dates back further than that. Nowadays you can find meatloaves flavored with all sort of things. But today I'm gonna show you
an Italian style meatloaf that's flavored with sausage,
tomatoes and Parmesan. And we're gonna start by
making a tomato sauce, and we're actually gonna cook the meatloaf in the tomato sauce, so
it's almost like a braise. And we're gonna make
our own very fast sauce using canned tomatoes and a little garlic. Now here I have five cloves of garlic. Now to slice a clove of garlic,
you have to peel it first and try to leave it whole, don't smash it. And then using a sharp knife, just very carefully,
thinly slice the garlic. (knife tapping) There we go. Now to cook the sauce, we're just gonna use a medium
sauce pan over medium heat. And I have a tablespoon
of olive oil in the pan, and it's just shimmering now. So I'm gonna add the garlic. (garlic sizzling) We're just gonna cook the garlic for about a minute until it's fragrant and it starts to brown a
little bit around the edges. So the garlic has been cooking for about a minute and
you can see it's softened and starting to turn lightly
golden around the edges. That's when it's time to
add the canned tomatoes. Now I'm using two types
of canned tomatoes here. This is a small 15 ounce
can of tomato sauce. (sauce sizzling) And then this is a big can, a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes. And the combination of the smooth sauce and the slightly chunky crushed tomatoes is the perfect consistency here. Now we're just gonna flavor the sauce with little salt, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. And that's it for our
super simple tomato sauce. We just need to let this simmer gently for about five minutes. And while that's simmering
we're gonna turn our attention to the meatloaf. Now, most meatloafs mix in
breadcrumbs or crackers, which not only stretches the meat, but it also tenderizes the meatloaf. And today I'm going to
use saltine crackers 'cause they have a very mild flavor, they're slightly salty and they make a very
delicate textured meatloaf. But we have to crush 'em first. This is the fun part. So this is 35 saltines, which is basically one sleeve minus one, which I always taste just
to make sure they're fresh. I'm gonna put them in a big bag. They have a little air pocket
and now the fun begins, the crushing. Use a good rolling pin, you can use a meat pounder, you can use the back of a spoon. (crackers crunching) Turn out all the crumbs
right to a nice big bowl. And we're gonna let them soften with a little bit of milk and eggs. So this is 3/4 of a cup of
whole milk, and two large eggs. You just wanna stir this together 'til it's a nice even consistency. And we're just gonna let it sit for about five minutes to
really soften up those crumbs. The sauce has been
simmering for five minutes. It doesn't really look much different but the smell is a little more intense, as the garlic has really
permeated through those tomatoes. All right, so I'm gonna
turn this sauce off, set it aside for now. And now let's focus on the meatloaf. So here are the saltine
crumbs that have been sitting with the milk and eggs. You can see they're nice and soft. I'm just gonna take a whisk to it. Really break up any big pieces of cracker that are left behind. Now it's time to add some flavor. I'm gonna start by adding a
teaspoon of dried oregano, teaspoon of granulated
garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, 1/4
teaspoon of red pepper flakes and last, but definitely
not least, some Parmesan. Now I'm gonna use fresh graded Parmesan, and I'm going to grade it
using a rasp-style grater because those fine shreds will really melt into the meatloaf. And this is about two ounces of Parmesan, which when graded up in this fluffy style, measures about a cup. All right, that's about
it for the Parmesan. Now we're gonna whisk all this together. And I like doing this
before you add the meat. That way all the flavors get
evenly mixed with the panade. and it's easier to combine
the meat in with this mixture. Now that's it for all the seasonings. Now it's time to add the beef. Now this is a pound of
85% lean ground beef. I'm just gonna kind of pull it apart and drop it into the bowl. Now time for the sausage. So this is a pound of
sweet Italian sausage, and I've removed it from its casings. Although nowadays I often
find patties of this stuff at the supermarket that's
almost easier to work with, and just like the beef, I'm pulling it into small
pieces before dropping it into the bowl to make it
easier to mix in the end. All right, now it's time
to mix this all together. And I like to take my rings off and really get my hands
deep into the mixture because your hands are
really the best tools for evenly mixing this all together. Time to shape this mixture
into a nice tidy meatloaf. And as I mentioned earlier, we're gonna cook the
meatloaf with the sauce. So I'm gonna use a casserole dish that just keeps everything
nice and tidy in the oven. All right, so this is
a 9 x 13" baking dish, and I've already sprayed it
with vegetable oil spray. Take the mixture, put it right
into the center of the dish, shape this into a 9 x 5" meatloaf. And I found if your
hands are a little wet, the meat doesn't really
stick to you as much. All right, so that looks pretty good. Gonna wash my hands. And now I'm gonna pour the
sauce right over the top of the meatloaf and it's
gonna fall down into the dish all around it. All right. Now I'm just gonna cover
the dish with foil, put it on a rimmed baking sheet just to catch any drips that might happen. And we're gonna bake
this in a 400 degree oven for about an hour and 10 minutes until the meatloaf registers 160. (bright guitar music) It's been an hour and 10 minutes, and it's time to check the meatloaf. Oh, you can smell it. Oh, it smells delicious. (foil crinkling) Oh, that is a good looking meatloaf. I love seeing all the little bubbles in the sauce around the edge. Again, we're looking for a
temperature of 160 in the middle. There we go, 162, perfect. So here I have about a
cup of shredded Fontina, and I shredded this on the
large holes of the box grater, and I'm just gonna sprinkle it
right on top of the meatloaf and run it under the broiler
for just a few minutes. That just gives it a nice cheesy crown. Oh, that's a looker. Look at that beauty. I love the melted cheese on top. Now, the trick here, is you
have to let this meatloaf rest for at least 15 minutes so if firms up. Otherwise it'll just crumble apart. So let it cool for 15, and then we can come back and taste it. (bright guitar music) The meatloaf has rested for 15 minutes, and now I'm gonna take it out of the pan and transfer it to a cutting board. The sauce smells amazing. Now using a wide, flat spoon I'm just gonna pull out
any grease that has pooled on the top of the sauce. Now to serve it, what I like
to do is slice the meatloaf then put it back into the sauce. So, nice big slices of meatloaf, you know, about an inch thick or so. That smells delicious. Back into the sauce. Mm mm. I'm gonna sprinkle it with
a little bit of fresh basil. It's about three tablespoons
of coarsely chopped basil. Mm. Now, time to taste. In my house, the end
pieces always go first, and I am end piece lover. So, this one on the
end is calling my name. Just a little extra sauce. Mm hmm Mm. It is so tender. Oh, and you can taste the
sausage and the Parmesan, little kick of pepper flakes. It tastes great out of the oven, but if you happen to have
any leftover the next day, it makes the best sandwich. So if you wanna make this meatloaf, remember make a quick sauce
using canned tomatoes, use crushed saltines in the meatloaf, and finish with a little
Fontina under the broiler. From Cook's Country, a fabulous
recipe for Italian meatloaf. It's just like a big old
meatball in a pile of sauce. It is so good. Mm. - Thanks for watching Cook's Country from America's Test Kitchen. So what'd you think? - Leave a comment and let us know which recipes you're excited to make, or just say hi. - Now you can find links to
today's recipes and reviews in the video description. - And don't forget to
subscribe to our channel. See you later. - Alligator. (both laughing)
