Meatloaf with extra meat...

I've only had meatloaf once...it doesn't stir up happy memories! It was dry, tasteless and contained unidentifiable minced meat. You'd wonder why I decided to make it since I clearly hated it first time round.. Well, magic did not happen in the canteen when I was in boarding school, so I try not to let it impair my judgement too much.

I like the idea of meat loaf since it's one of those dishes that any leftovers will be great cold as a high protein snack on the go. Since I can't leave well enough alone, I had to make posh meatloaf...but don't worry, there has been no scrimping on the meat content... A lot of meat loaf recipes use flour or breadcrumbs as a binder, but since I exclude grains from my diet, I just left it out. You could add in some almond flour if you feel the meatloaf is a little sticky. 

Meatloaf: 

1lb minced pork

1lb minced turkey 

1 red onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

100g oyster mushrooms

2 eggs

100g Boyne Valley Blue (unpasteurised blue goats cheese) If you're strictly Paleo, just leave this out. 

100g spinach leaves

1 small tin organic tomato paste

8 thick cut smoked pieces of bacon

basil, oregano, sea salt, pepper

Start by sweating onion, garlic, mushrooms and herbs in a dry wok. There's no need to add oil, as the natural juices will keep them moist. Cook for 5 mins, tossing regularly. 

Add in 4tbsp of organic tomato paste, and mix to combine.

Next add minced meat to large bowl with the above seasoning mix, and 2 eggs.

 Mix until well combined. 

At this stage, you can pop the meat mixture into a loaf tin, top with some tomato paste and bacon, and cook for 45 minutes... OR......

Spread meat into a square about 1 inch thick onto a piece of tin foil.

Top with spinach leaves and 3/4 of the blue goats cheese. 

Next, take the edge of the tin foil closest to you, and lifting gently, roll into a roulade. This is actually really easy, you just need to lift the tin foil slowly, and the meat will fall into this shape naturally. 

Transfer to a pyrex baking dish. 

Coat the outside with the remaining tomato paste and crumbled blue cheese. 

Next wrap the meatloaf in bacon, overlapping at the edges. 

Cover loosely with tin foil, and bake for 40 minutes. 

Remove the foil and bake for a further 15 minutes until the bacon is nicely browned and crispy.

This isn't like the meatloaf I remember from school, it's full of flavour, and really moist. Whether you bake it in a loaf tin, without the blue cheese and spinach, or you make it into slightly fancier roulade, I've no doubt you'll love how simple this is to make.

Cut into slices and serve with lots of fresh salad.

Leftovers are great eaten cold or warm, and this will also freeze great as a healthy dinner back up for busy days..