Italian Meatloaf

Now that it's wintertime, I've been craving some of my favorite comfort foods like chicken noodles and dumplings, bread pudding, and the italian meatloaf that I made the other night.  I'm still working on finding a traditional meatloaf recipe that I love, but this italian meatloaf is great (sorry, the picture above isn't the prettiest).  I found this recipe a few years ago from Michael Chiarello.  My mom makes a really good italian meatloaf too so sometime I'll have to make her recipe and compare the two.  I always serve this italian meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes and some fresh bread.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter or EVOO

1 red pepper, seeded, small diced
1 small onion, diced (I used a half of a medium sized yellow onion)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 pound ground beef
2 eggs
3/4 cup bread crumbs (I used italian style bread crumbs)
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (always use fresh cracked pepper!)
1 to 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter or oil in a saute pan over medium heat and add the peppers, onions and garlic. Saute until just soft, remove to a plate and cool.

When the peppers and onions are cool, combine all of the remaining ingredients together except for the marinara. Pack the meat mixture into an oiled loaf pan, if you do not have a loaf pan, form the meat mixture into a loaf shape on an oiled oven tray or baking dish. Top with the marinara making sure to spread evenly over the top.

Bake for approximately 50 to 60 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees F in the middle of the meatloaf. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese, and then slice and serve.