Football Food: Meatloaf

My husband and I are joined by a holy bond. No, nothing that happens in a  church. Something that happens in a Horseshoe. On the banks of the Olentangy River. Yes, that’s right. We are both Ohio State football fans. I went to THE Ohio State University (college sports enthusiasts know why I emphasize THE) for grad school and he hails from Cleveland where his whole family loved the Buckeyes. I’m actually pretty sure he married me because I scored tickets to the Michigan game the first year we were dating.

We both have other college football loyalties. I went to undergrad at Lynchburg College in Virginia so I was inducted into the Hokie Nation by the many Virginia Tech fans I knew down there. My husband is a Kansas grad and pays fealty to his alma mater. More during basketball season than football, but still. The point is, there is seldom a weekend that one of our teams isn’t playing a big game so we have the tv on all day Saturday. And Thursday night. And all of Bowl Season. Yeah.

One of the best part of football season is the food. Before C, we went to a lot of games and joined friends for some really great tailgates. That’s not so much a part of our agenda now but we still like to have a big, hearty, cold-weather comfort food meal on game days. Chili is the ultimate football meal of course, but there are a lot of other stick-to-your-ribs staples we bring out during the season and I’m going to highlight a few of them here. A lot of them involve round beef because that’s the only form of beef I eat (I’m a picky eater when it comes to meat).  So to kick this new feature off, I give you My Very Yummy Meatloaf.

This recipe is adapted from a Williams-Sonoma recipe for meatloaf. My husband LOVES it as do the husbands of several friends for whom I brought dinner after they had babies.

Pre-heat oven to 375

Combine:

Two eggs

Two tablespoons Worchestshire sauce

1/2 cup tomato sauce (or pizza sauce for a saucy kick – hardy-har-har)

3/4 cup rolled oats

1 onion, diced (I love that Vidalia Onion Chopper for dicing onion, FYI. Its cheap and awesome, though it will break eventually. Note to self: replace onion chopper…)

2 lbs ground beef (or whatever ground meat you like) (I like to used meat with some fat to it otherwise I think it gets dry. 80/20 is a good ratio)

Smush all the ingredients together in a big bowl. I’ve found a potato masher is a perfect tool for blending everything together. Way better than a plain old spoon.

Lightly oil the bottom of a 9/13 pan. Set aside.

Put meat mixture int a loaf pan. Run a knife around the edge of the loaf pan to loosen the meatloaf.

Now…this is the most genius part of this recipe…dump the loaf out of the loaf pan and into the 9×13 pan. Put it in the oven and bake for an hour. The outside will get all delicious and crispy and be sensational meat-loafy goodness all around.

Shortly before the meatloaf is due to come out of the oven, add some more tomato or pizza sauce on top.

Serve with whatever yummy sidedish suits your fancy.

Enjoy!