Meatloaf Wellington

I am busy getting my house back in order and organizing my homeschooling materials this week, so I’m going to post a recipe….or two. While in Phoenix, one of my tasks was making dinner. My niece had this recipe and it is worth giving it a try! It tastes great, is really cool looking and is really very easy!

Meatloaf Wellington

2 eggs
1/2 c ketchup
2 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/8 tsp ground pepper
2 pounds ground meat
1/3 c minced onion (I use 1 tsp onion powder for my kids’ sake)
3/4 c dry, plain bread crumbs

1 17 oz pkg puff pastry
1 egg

Mix eggs, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, pepper and onion. Add in meat, then crumbs. Mix well, but handle as little as possible or meat will turn out tough. Shape meat into 2 loaves.

Roll out each pastry with a rolling pin (there should be 2 pastry sheets) on lightly floured surface until it is big enough to wrap the loaves. Wrap loaves, carefully pressing edges together with slightly damp fingers. You should wrap so the main seam is on the bottom. Cut slits in top of pastry, brush with slightly beaten egg. Place on a cookie sheet. (We were afraid the grease from the meat would make the bottom too soggy, so we put the loaves on a baking rack. This just made the bottom pastry fall off, so next time I’ll just follow instructions and place them directly on the cookie sheet.)

**another recipe for this on the internet suggests these baking instructions (baking meat first, then wrapping in pastry) using crescent rolls instead of puff pastry: Shape meat firmly into loaf. Place in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 375F for 45 minutes. Separate rolls using 5 to 6 crescents. Place crosswise over top and down sides of loaf, overlapping slightly. Bake 15 minutes more.**

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 60-70 minutes. Serve with Madeira sauce.

Madeira sauce

1/4 c butter
5 Tblsp flour
2 c beef consomme
1 Tblsp tomato paste
1/4 tsp each: dried thyme, rosemary and browning sauce
Dash of cloves or allspice
1/2 c Madeira wine or beef broth
2 c sliced mushrooms
2 Tblsp olive oil

Melt butter and flour, whisking together until smooth and bubbly. Stir in consomme, tomato paste, herbs, browning sauce and cloves. Bring to a boil, cook and stir 2 minutes until thickened. Stir in wine or broth. Makes 2 1/2 cups sauce.

Saute mushrooms in oil to serve alongside meatloaf and sauce.

Serves 5-6 (we had 8 people and had a serving left over)