Meat Loaf de Provence

Meat Loaf de Provence is not your average meat loaf recipe. To say that my husband isn't the biggest fan of meat loaf and yet had two huge helpings of last nights dinner tells you just how good this recipe is. Combining pork and beef with mirepoix (onion, celery and carrots) along with the Herbes de Provence and the other cast of characters gave this meat loaf its own identity.

What I loved about this is that there was not a big pile of greasy fat in the pan after it baked.  It pulled away nicely from the sides of my 9 1/4 x 5 1/4 inch non stick loaf pan which made it so easy to lift out of the pan to slice. (Almost like what a cake will do when it cools.) You could see all the nice small chunks of vegetables and the top was crispy brown. I served it with the left over gravy from my beautiful Chuck Roast Pot Roast Dinner and it was super delicious.

• 3 slices wheat bread (or white) - torn up
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 large onion
• 2 stalks celery
• 3 medium carrots
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 3/4 - 1 lb. ground pork (mine was .88#)
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 3 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. Herbes de Provence
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

1. Peel your carrots and give them a rough chop. Rough chop your celery and onion as well. Add all three to your food processor and pulse them until they are fairly small. If you have a few larger pieces that aren't overly large, no worries.
2. Place a skillet over medium heat and when the pan is warmed up, melt the butter. Add in all of the pulsed vegetables along with a pinch or so of salt and saute them on medium low heat for about 6-8 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool down.
3. Rip up your bread and place in a large bowl and add the milk. Stir and let the bread soak up the milk.
4. To the soaked bread add both the pork and beef, all of the spices, the egg and the mirepoix that has cooled slightly. Mix well.
5. Add the panko crumbs in and combine well.
6. Place the mixture in a non stick loaf pan and press all the way around and flatten the top of the meatloaf.
7. Bake in a pre heated 350° oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Test the internal temperature of the meat loaf with an instant read thermometer. It should register at least 150-152 degrees. Pull the meat loaf out and let it rest and it will go up to the safe temperature of 155°.

There was enough meatloaf to feed six people comfortably at $1.73 per person and even if you have very young children I think you can stretch it to feed 8 for $1.30 per person. My total cost for the meatloaf was $10.40. To add in mashed potato and frozen baby peas for instance makes this $14.34 for the entire meal.

What is also lovely about this dinner is that if you have a smaller family you can reheat the meat loaf and serve again another night or use the left overs for sandwiches.