Confetti Meatloaf with Tomato Jam

  I am a very bad girl. All right well maybe not a bad girl then, but an irresponsible one for certain. I have once again disappointed Michael and myself as well. You see it all started many years ago. I was searching for a recipe for pork roasts and found one for "Peanut Encrusted Pork Roast". So I gave it a shot. It was the most wonderful pork roast Michael and I had ever tasted. Really, EVER! I am serious when I tell you Michael loved it so much so, that he actually confiscated the remainder of my lovely pork roast and took it to work to have all of his employees in the restaurant taste it. The recipe had not only crunchy peanut butter in the ingredient list, there were about 10 to 15 ingredients listed, of only a few I can still recall from memory. Some of them were coconut milk, chiles, lime juice, and so on. Well as you can tell I lost my printed out copy of it and I have searched and searched and I can not find my copy, nor can I find it on the internet. Believe me when I say I have tried some of the recipes on the net that are similar and they don't pass the picky husband criteria!

  So what does this have to do with the picture of the meatloaf you ask? Well you guessed it right if you're thinking "oops she did it again"   . I've lost my copy (and I can't find it on the net) of a wonderful "healthy meatloaf" recipe from Martha Stewart, that was topped with this delicious tomato jam (which I found and reprinted to save in my "favorites" file in my recipe box. I can't even remember if it was on her website or if I clipped it from one of her magazines. Trust me when I say Martha's website has pages and pages of meatloaf recipes listed and I have been through ALL of them. This is the closest I can come to it, a Confetti Meatloaf . It is still not quite the same as we're sure it is missing something and we can't quite pinpoint it. I have since become more responsible and thus more diligent in my endeavor to save favorite recipes. Anyway, without further ado, here is the closest we could come to that fabulous meatloaf of days gone by. Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes this is pretty close and really made even more delicious by the addition of the tomato jam (which I will post in the next day or two). By the way, this tomato jam has a great many other uses. Just use your imagination. I do recommend that you try it just once and I can assure you that you will make it time and time again.

As you can see, I used ketchup in lieu of the vegetable/tomato juice. I also omitted the cheese.

I added some fresh thyme to the mix.

The mix. I did use 2 eggs instead of just 1 since I had closer to 3 pounds of meat.

Mix well. I use the tips of my fingers in a swirling motion so I don't over mix.

Lightly pat into a loaf pan and bake . Top with tomato jam about 15 minutes before final cooking time.

Confetti Meatloaf

Adapted from Food Reference and The Texas Beef Council

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef I had closer to 3 pounds
1/2 (13.5 ounce) can spinach, squeezed dry and chopped  substituted fresh frozen
2 carrots, grated
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1 egg, beaten (or ¼ cup egg mix + ¼ cup water, mixed) I used 2
1/2 cup vegetable or tomato juice substituted ketchup
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional) omitted
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs or crushed crackers
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Form into a loaf, and place in a 1-quart loaf pan. Cover with foil and bake 50-55 minutes, or until meat thermometer inserted in center of meatloaf reads 160°F. Drain juice from pan and top with tomato jam.
Bake uncovered 10 to 15 minutes.

Serves 8







NOTE: Original recipe was found. Missing ingredient(s) are as follows
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 teaspoons dry mustard (Coleman's)


Michael and Carla