My Mother's Italian-American Meatloaf

Cooking Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Put the beef, veal, and pork in a bowl and knead them together.

Pour the milk into a bowl and soak the bread in it, squeezing it into a paste. Add the soaked bread to the bowl with the meat and work them together as though you were kneading dough. Add the cheese, garlic, onions, eggs, oregano, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and knead again until well incorporated.

Grease a large roasting pan with olive oil. Form the meat mixture into 1 large loaf in the center of the roasting pan.

Put the plum tomatoes, tomato paste, and 1 cup of water in bowl, stir them together, and pour the mixture evenly over the meatloaf. Scatter the carrots and celery into the pan around the loaf.

Put the pan in the oven and bake until a skewer inserted to the center of the loaf comes out warm, approximately 1 1/2 hours. If the loaf begins to look dry while cooking, tent it with aluminum foil. Remove the pan from the oven and let the meatloaf cool slightly.

Slice the meatloaf into servings; put 1 serving on each plate, and spoon pan gravy and vegetables over and around the meatloaf.

Round out the Meal:

With roasted garlic mashed potatoes

From Nightly Specials by Michael Lomonaco and Andrew Friedman (William Morrow, 2004) Adapted by StarChefs