Tomato Glazed Meatloaf

with Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes

from The Smitten Kitchen

One word. DELICIOUS. A bit of extra effort, and a few more steps than the typical meatloaf, but worth the time. Make the meatballs as small or as large as you like. Makes excellent leftovers. I made this as a comforting Valentine's Day dinner. A WINNER!

Try the brown butter mashed potatoes once - I don't think they are worth the extra effort, but am glad I experienced them once. Enjoy!

Glaze:

4 tsp. canola oil
1/3 cup. tomato paste
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
4 Tbsp. honey
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. spicy brown or dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Combine glaze ingredients in a small saucepan, and simmer, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes. Set aside.

Meat Loaves:

2 slices of sandwich bread
1 medium onion, finely chopped,
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium stalk celery, chopped finely
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
Olive oil, for cooking
2 lbs. ground beef
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 teaspoon spicy brown or dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper for vegetables

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Tear the bread into chunks and then blend it, in a food processor, into breadcrumbs. or if you don't have a food processor store bought ones are fine just use 1 cup. Place breadcrumbs in a lard bowl. Add the vegetables to processor and finely chop or do it by hand.

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

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

Space the meatballs so that they are not touching, in a baking dish, Drizzle or bush each with a tsp. or so of the tomato glaze. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve on a bed of brown butter mashed potatoes.

Brown butter mashed potatoes:

2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes pealed
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter or 1 stick melted and browned
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. Sea Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over heigh heat, once it is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 20-30 minutes until tender. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan.

Brown the butter in a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden, and then it will start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan. Don't wait too long the time in takes to brown vs burning is the difference of about a minute.

Add browned butter, buttermilk, salt and pepper to taste and smash them with a potato smasher until smooth or put them in your stand mixer and beat them till creamy.