Ingredients
Tomato Relish:
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and finely diced
- 2 tomatoes, halved, seeded, and finely diced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 (12-ounce) bottle ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Meatloaf:
- 3 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into chunks by hand
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 eggs
- Leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 to 4 bacon slices
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Coat a skillet with a 2-count of oil and place over medium heat. Saute the onion, garlic, and bay leaves for a few minutes to create a base flavor. Throw in the red peppers and cook them for a couple of minutes to soften. Now add the tomatoes; adding them at this point lets them hold their shape and prevents them from disintegrating. Stir in the parsley, ketchup, and Worcestershire; season with salt and pepper. Simmer the relish for 5 minutes to pull all the flavors together. Remove it from the heat; you should have about 4 cups of relish.
Place the torn white bread in a bowl and add the milk to just barely cover, swish the bread around in the milk and let it sit while you get the rest of the ingredients for the meat loaf together.
This is where you get your hands dirty! In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef and pork with 1 1/2 cups of the tomato relish, the eggs, and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and add the soaked bread to the meat mixture. To test, fry a small "hamburger" patty of the meatloaf until cooked; the patty should hold together but still have a soft consistency. Taste the patty for seasoning.
Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Transfer the meat mixture to the center of the cookie sheet and form into a log about 9 inches long and about 4 inches wide. Coat the top of the meatloaf with another 1/2 cup of the tomato relish. Lay the bacon across the top lengthwise.
Bake the meatloaf for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the bacon is crisp and the meatloaf is firm. Rotate the meat loaf while it's baking every now and then to insure that the bacon browns evenly. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it cool a bit before slicing. Serve with the remaining tomato relish on the side. Unbelievably moist!
Photo: Dad's Meatloaf with Tomato Relish Recipe



















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By tagw
Plainview, Texas
on January 30, 2012
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Great meat loaf recipe. Since I was only serving 3 people, I omitted the ground pork and used only 1 pound ground beef. I also divided all ingredients in half. Meat loaf was cooked in microwave for 15 minutes. It came out very moist and tasty. Bacon seemed to enhance the flavor. Am anxious to try it in oven when time permits.
By sommertime78_12...
Monrovia, CA
on January 09, 2012
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Great way to serve meatloaf! The bacon was what made it extra special, I think. It is a very wet mixture and I wasn't sure if it was going to stay in a loaf form, but it did!
By charlotte_forti...
Lakeside, AZ
on January 09, 2012
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Does the word "glorious" fit a recipe?? Well, if it doesn't then I now add it! I have made this recipe twice now, and each time the recipients have just begged for the recipe!!! I have not changed one iota of this recipe, it is just "flat" good as we say in Texas.
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