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tomato-glazed meatloaves with brown butter mashed potatoes

’m a sucker for a good meatball. Something happens when you mix otherwise one-dimensional ground meats up with fresh breadcrumbs, herbs, seasonings, and bits of

extra ingredients—and that thing is that I will swat your fork away to get at them first.However, it had always been my belief that I held no such adoration for meatloaf. Icleared my throat, stepped up on my invisible soapbox, and pronounced as much on mywebsite one day. And one by one, readers gently whispered to me in the comments,“Deb, you do realize that meatloaf is like one giant meatball?”

Well, no. No, I had not. From that point on, it became my personal mission to retractmy hasty remarks by finding meatloaf nirvana, especially once I realized thatmeatloaves were like meatballs with even more flavor. My version is busy witheverything—a fine mirepoix, garlic, smoked paprika, piercing Dijon mustard, steaksauce, and a tangy tomato glaze—but I still couldn’t get past the typical loglikemeatloaf shape. So I decided not to. These little meatloaves masquerading as bigmeatballs fool nobody except maybe the meatloafphobic.

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yield: serves 6

glaze4 teaspoons vegetable oil¼ cup (65 grams) tomato paste2 tablespoons (30 ml) cider vinegar2 teaspoons honey2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce1 tablespoon Dijon mustard¼ teaspoon table salt

meatballs2 slices sandwich bread1 medium onion, finely chopped1 garlic clove, minced1 medium stalk celery, finely chopped1 medium carrot, finely choppedOlive oil, for cooking1 teaspoon table salt, plus more for vegetablesFreshly ground black pepper2 pounds (905 grams) ground beef1 tablespoon tomato paste1 teaspoon smoked paprika1 teaspoon Dijon mustard2 tablespoons (30 ml) Worcestershire sauce½ cup (120 ml) milk¼ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley2 large eggs

make glaze Combine glaze ingredients in a small saucepan, and simmer, whisking constantly, for2 minutes. Set aside.

make meatloaves Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Tear the bread into chunks and then blendit, in a food processor, into breadcrumbs. Place the breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Add the onion,garlic, celery, and carrot to the food processor, and pulse it until they are finely chopped.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, coat the bottom with olive oil, and heatthe oil for a minute; add the finely chopped vegetables. Season with salt and pepper, and cook,stirring frequently, until they begin to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the vegetables to the large bowl with breadcrumbs, then add the remaining ingredients. Stir theingredients together with a fork. With wet hands, form the mixture into twelve 3-inch meatballs; each

will weigh about 4 ounces.

bake meatloaves Space meatballs so that they are not touching, in a baking dish. Drizzle orbrush each meatball with a teaspoon or so of the tomato glaze you made earlier, and bake untilcooked through, about 20 minutes. (An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a cookedmeatball will register 160 to 165.)

to serve Serve with additional glaze on a bed of brown butter mashed potatoes.

brown butter mashed potatoes

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2 pounds (905 grams) Yukon Gold potatoes8 tablespoons unsalted butter (4 ounces, 115 grams, or 1 stick), melted and browned (see recipe

for Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats)1 cup (235 ml) buttermilk1 to 2 teaspoons table saltFreshly ground black pepper

Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat,and once it’s boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on yourpotato size; the potatoes are ready when a paring knife or cake tester can be inserted into the centerwith little resistance. Drain the potatoes, and wipe the pot dry.

Peel the potatoes—I find that holding one in a pot-holdered hand and using a paring knife with theother is easiest. Repeat with remaining potatoes until they are completely peeled. Run the potatoesthrough a food mill or potato ricer, then return the mashed potatoes to your emptied saucepan. Addbrowned butter, buttermilk, salt, and black pepper to taste. Do your best not to eat it all before guestsarrive.