Food & Wine's No-apologies Meatloaf

Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins Preparation Time: 35 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 20
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (i use olive oil, can try half of each)
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 large celery rib, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 2 lbs lean ground beef, preferably sirloin
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt (i omit this)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
• 3 slices bacon, halved crosswise

Recipe

• 1 in a large skillet, melt the butter over moderate heat. add the onion, green pepper, celery, and thyme. reduce the heat to low; cook covered, stirring one or twice, until the vegetables are very soft (about 20 minutes). remove from heat; cool to room temperature.
• 2 preheat oven to 350°f in a large bowl, combine cooked vegetables and beef. add oats, 1/3 cup ketchup, eggs, salt, and pepper; mix well. spoon the meat mixture into a large shallow baking dish. form the meat into a flat loaf about 2 inches high and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. spread the remaining 1/3 cup ketchup over the loaf; arrange the bacon strips on top.
• 3 bake the meatloaf for 1 hour or until it is just cooked through and shows no trace of pink. (a thermometer will register 145°f in the center of the loaf). let the meatloaf stand for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
• 4 notes: for my large family, i double the recipe and increase cooking time to approximately 1-1/2 hours. a dash of worcestershire sauce or pick-a-pepa kicks up the flavor nicely. you can also substitute turkey bacon, or omit the bacon and add a dash of liquid smoke. using tomato paste on top of the meatloaf instead of ketchup adds a tangy flavor.