Welcome to I Love to Cook

Cooking is something I have always enjoyed. I learned to cook at the apron strings of my mother and grandmother. The experience of cooking brings me both pleasure and peace of mind.







Monday, April 4, 2011

Chicken Meatloaf

No pictures and just a quick concoction.  Our market started carrying ground chicken.  Ms. I Love to Cook loves meartloaf but will not eat red meat.  I tried a variation of this recipe a few weeks ago but was not really satisfied with the final product.  This evenings meal was worthy of a post.  As always when working with raw meat (especially chicken) be careful not to cross contaminate and wash hands, utensils, and work surfaces often.



Ingredients
  • 1 lb ground chicken
  • 1/3 each red, yellow, & orange peppers
  • 2 small to medium carrots
  • 3 stalks of celery
  • 6.5 oz jar of sundried tomato paste (Mantova)
  • 1/2 medium white onion
  • 2 tbl of fresh thyme
  • 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese (Bel Gioioso)
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • Handful of Italian parsley
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 1 cup of bread crumbs
  • Salt & pepper
  • 6 oz can of tomato paste (Contadina) - (Final topping do not mix)
Preparation
  • Chop (small) all the vegetables and spices
  • Place the chopped vegetables and spices into a large mixing bowl
  • Cut the mozzarella cheese into small 1/4" - 1/2" cubes and add to the mixing bowl
  • Combine all of the remaining ingredients - eggs, bread crrumbs, sun dried tomato paste and ground chicken (NOT the can of tomatoe paste) in the mixing bowl
  • Salt and pepper the ingredients
  • Using your hands thoroughly mix all of the ingredients together
  • Transfer the mixture to a greased bread pan or similar baking dish
  • Spread the can of tomato sauce on top of the pre-cooked meatloaf
  • Place the baking pan into a 350 - 375 degree pre-heated oven
  • Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked - I watched the loaf and once the juices were bubbling clear and the tomato paste on top began to melt into the loaf I was confidnt that it was flly cooked.  However, I did remove the loaf from the pan and cut into the middle to assure myself that the chicken was fully cooked.
Serving Suggestions
I was late getting home and this dish came out of the oven at 8:00 p.m. so the serving was from the pan to our plates.  I would recommend a spring salad with a vinegarette dressing and a glass of sauvignon blanc or if you like something less dry perhaps a viognier.

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