Italian Meatloaf with Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad

For today's dinner I've decided to take other people's recipes and make them my own. We all do it and those who claim they don't are full of it. Everyone steals ideas, that's how new ideas are born. The key to doing it correctly is to change it slightly and, of course, give credit to those that you are stealing the ideas from.

Just for your own information, my food blog will give you an entire run through of how I made whatever it is I am highlighting at that time. If something goes well, you'll know about it, just as if something goes wrong. I'm not writing this so you all will think I'm an amazing cook; I'm writing this to give you the opportunity to learn through my trials and errors. Besides, we all learn best from our mistakes.

The list of ingredients needed are as follows.

Meatloaf

• 1 lb of lean ground beef
• 1 lb of sweet or hot Italian sausage
• garlic 5-6 cloves
• bread crumbs 1 1/2 to 2 cups
• grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• fresh Italian flat parsley
• salt and pepper

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad

• 1lb of pasta, orzo or fusilli work well
• asparagus, one grocery store bunch should do
• 2 cups of grape tomatoes
• garlic 4-5 cloves
• red onion or shallots
• mini portabella mushrooms, 1 package
• olive oil
• white balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper

Instead of writing the recipes one by one, we are going to go through making this meal, from beginning to end, just as I did tonight. The key to cooking a good meal is timing. When we sit down we don't want to be waiting on the garlic bread. Definitely when we are entertaining but even if we are eating alone. It's nice to have it all done.

Anyway, the first thing I did was put pot of water on the stove. This is to blanch the asparagus. Blanching is just boiling water and throwing the asparagus in there for a few seconds. This is not a necessary step but I found that it roasted nicely. Before blanching, cut the bottom of the asparagus. Also, have a bowl of ice water ready and a colander.

When the water boils, throw in the asparagus. Wait about 30-50 seconds and drain then immediately throw the asparagus in the ice water. This will stop it from cooking any further from it's own heat.

Next we preheat the oven to 400 degrees. I didn't do it at this temp on purpose but my veggies were roasted in 20 minutes. While the oven in heating take all our veggies and prepare them for roasting. Cut up your onion, I used shallots because I had them but a red onion would work just fine.

Pull the stems off the mushrooms. I roasted them whole and cut them later because I was unsure of how small they would become. Stems are easy to pop off if you just push one toward a side it should just pop out.

Throw in your asparagus and then coat with olive oil. Then salt and pepper. Next, crush in as many cloves of garlic as you intend to use. Again, toss everything and then put it all on a cookie sheet. Put it in the oven. Check this periodically; there is no real wrong way to do it. Just watch until the veggies look like you desire.

While the veggies are roasting get the meatloaf ready. In a large bowl put your beef and then take the sausage out of the casing. Mix together until it is well blended. Mixing ground meat dishes requires hands whether you like it or not. If you don't like putting your hands into ground meat and mushing it between your fingers then you should consider not making these types of dishes. Granted, a potato masher would probably do the trick, but I don't think as well. Don't forget to wash your hands with soap after you put them in the meat. You don't want possible bacteria on your salt shaker or other containers that sit around your house every day.

Next we press the garlic in the bowl. I used 5 small cloves and 1 large but that's a lot. Add one at a time until the smell of garlic isn't too much or too little. Mix thoroughly. Then chop up your parsley and add it; mix. salt and pepper to taste; mix again. Be careful when salting not to overdo it. The cheese is going to add a ton of salt. If you plan on adding a lot of cheese, don't bother adding any salt.

Now we add the bread crumbs. One note, this is not an exact duplicate of a meatball I would make for a gravy. That's a completely different recipe. Bread crumbs in a meatball make it heavy; I prefer to soak bread in water. For the meatloaf however, I think bread crumbs will work just fine and that's all I had. Someone forgot to pick up bread.....

How much bread crumbs, well my guess would be that for this particular recipe I would put in the first cup. Then keep the extra aside in case once you add the eggs it gets so wet you can't shape it. Remember, mix thoroughly every time you add something. We do this so that everything mixes evenly. If you add everything on top and then mix odds are you will find lumps of bread crumbs or egg or cheese which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I still recommend my mixing method but you should feel free to do it any way you wish. That's what cooking is about, learning to make it your own.

The mixtures consistency at this point should be getting dry. No worries, we are going to add the egg last to loosen it all up again. But before the egg be sure to add your Romano cheese. I prefer Romano in all my breading/meatball recipes. It has a bigger kick and more flavor, in my humble opinion. But some of you out there may prefer Parmesan or Asiago for that matter; any of these cheeses would work. Make sure they are grated fine.

Romano cheese adds a lot of salt (repeating myself) so just add a 1/2 cup for the beginning. If you like more of the cheese taste add the other 1/2. Or, you could be like me and add 2 cups. I prefer mine on the cheese/salty side. Mix again.

Now crack the egg and then add them to mixture. My mom always told me to crack and egg in a glass first, then add it. If you see a red dot in the yolk that means the egg is spoiled and should not be used. I've never come across one like that in my life but I still always look.

You should mix the eggs one at a time. I did two for this recipe and it was a mess. While mixing, the consistency should be somewhat wet. Not too wet where you can't form it into a loaf but just dry enough so you can. The wetter the mixture, the moister your meat loaf. Drier mixture, ________ (fill in the blank. I love these interactive blogs don't you?)

Now, once it is all mixed, we form it on a cookie sheet. Then I put wax paper over it and placed it in the refrigerator.

The veggies should be done by now, if not just wait. Take them out and strain them in a colander to drain over a bowl and put them in the fridge. Lower the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the meatloaf on that temperature until it brown on the outside. Mine took and hour and fifteen minutes, but I took it out too soon and that picture you see up there had a few pink pieces of sausage in it so I had to put it back in. Just be careful not to over cook your meatloaf.

While the meatloaf is baking boil the pasta for the salad. I used the mini rigatoni again because that's what I had. Any small pasta will do. Cook it as you would any other pasta dish, if you have questions you can read my blog from yesterday where I explain how pasta should be cooked. The link can be found here http://camillescucina.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-escape-jarred-pasta-sauce-or-as.html.

When the pasta is cooked, coat it with extra virgin olive oil. Put that in the refrigerator as well.

Take some marinara out of your fridge from yesterday's meal. The recipe for that can be found here http://camillescucina.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-escape-jarred-pasta-sauce-or-as.html. Heat it up to put over the meatloaf when serving it.

When the meatloaf is almost done and the veggies and pasta cool off, prepare the salad. Add more olive oil to the pasta, then at some chopped up basil, salt and pepper making sure to mix every time you add a spice. That way we avoid spice clumps. Add the veggies and mix. Then drizzle some white balsamic vinegar. Just a touch and toss.

I just learned about white balsamic from my cousin who made the same salad for me on Friday. She got the recipe from her friend. I won't say their names since I didn't get permission to use them in an article but I have to give them some kind of credit right? If they are reading this and want me to add their names, just give me the word and I'll hit that edit key so fast it'll, well, it won't do much. But I'll add your name...:)

I always used red wine vinegar for pasta salad but this vinegar is much lighter and tasty. Try it. If you don't want to buy some, just use whatever vinegar you prefer. Put it back in the refrigerator.

The meatloaf should be done. Slice and serve with touch of marinara and piacere!

How to escape jarred pasta sauce; or as we like to call it, gravy.

My friends on Facebook were complaining and raving about the pictures I post of my dinners. Some said, "Hey, I love the food posts." So I posted more. Then the responses grew more along the lines of, "HEY! Stop posting so much food. Your making me hungry!" So I vowed to stop posting food, but then a childhood friend suggested, "How about you post the recipe with the pics so we can make our own. In all your pics the food always looks so good." By the way, thank you for that compliment Andrea.

That got me wondering; yes, the food I put up does look good because I choose what food to post. Trust me, there have been many a burned fritatta or blobs that were supposed to be cookies but turned into, well, blobs. But that's the fun in it for me; always learning how to do it better. I love to cook and have been perfecting the art for thirty years, no lie. I started when I was ten; I would baby-sit my younger brother until our Mom came home from work. She would always got in late and then proceed to make a home cooked meal for us every night. We would whine and complain and most of the time not eat until eight or eight-thirty but, the meals she prepared, well they would be big plates of bragiole in a brown gravy with mushrooms and mashed potatoes or Italian sausage stuffed melrose peppers. Most of the time we had pasta in a marinara. It was easy to make and very filling. But never, and I mean never, did my mother open a jar of Ragu. It was home made every time.

One day, when I was ten, I decided to surprise my mother and make dinner. It would be ready for her when she got home and, best of all, the good deed would most likely get me out of doing the dishes that night. So, I walked to the store, got my ingredients and made my first gravy (sauce for you haters). It turned out good, so good I used an entire loaf of bread to sop it up and my mother didn't come home to a wonderful home cooked meal. Instead she came home to a very messy kitchen and her ten year old daughter laying on the sofa moaning from stomach pains. Needless to say, I have been perfecting my marinara sauce for thirty years. And, actually, I make all kinds. But, for today's blog, we will stick with the basic marinara that your would find in my refrigerator. Honestly, there is typically always a container of home-made marinara sauce in my fridge. I use it for so many things. But, that will be the subject of another blog. Today, we will focus on one meal that's easy to make and good for you.

Pasta Marinara

and Broccoli Salad with Garlic, Lemon and Olive Oil

If at all possible steam your broccoli the night before or early that morning while you are having coffee so that the broccoli is cold. If you have no other choice and must cook it that night, just start as soon as you get home and when it's done drain it quickly and put it in a bowl with cold ice water. That will stop it from cooking. Place it in the refrigerator or freezer. Just a warning though, if you choose the freezer keep checking it. It can freeze fast too.

Cut the bottom of your broccoli, wash it, pull all the leaves off. Then, in a large sauce pan fill just the bottom 1/5 or 1/4 with water. Cover it and steam your broccoli on a medium to medium-low flame. Broccoli is done when it turns dark green. Put a fork in it occasionally to check the consistency. You don't want to over cook it; that makes it mushy.

Marinara

Must haves

• large can of tomatoes (crushed for smooth sauce or whole for chunky)
• fresh basil (a lot!)
• one med red potato or large carrot
• garlic (I use four large cloves per can, but I am a garlic freak)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• one medium gravy pan

The first thing you want to do, before anything else, is open your can of tomatoes and put them into a bowl. I prefer a smooth thick gravy so that requires crushed tomatoes. If you prefer a chunky style then use a can of whole tomatoes. With your hands, squeeze and mash the tomatoes until the chunks are at a size you like.

(A note here. If you are using the whole tomato method then you shouldn't have to add much water; they are pretty watery on their own. If you use the crushed tomato method adding the equivalent of one can of water should suffice.)

Rinse the sides of the can with water and get all the tomatoes that might be sticking to the sides. Put the tomatoes aside. The reason we do this first is because when you are sauteing the garlic in olive oil you have to be standing over it watching. If you wait to open the can after the garlic is sauteing you risk burning the garlic and if the garlic burns you have to start all over again. Burned garlic will ruin your gravy.

Wash the basil. If you want it in smaller pieces then just put the leaves inside one another and then roll them into a tube and start slicing from one end to the other until you have basil strips. Personally, I like them to be big so I just wash them and throw them in the tomatoes.

Peal your garlic. As I said, I adore garlic; so much I would never consider dating a man who doesn't. I just don't see how that would possibly work out.

I use four large cloves per can but that is potent. If you prefer a more moderate garlic taste then use two. I would stay away from only using one unless you really hate garlic. One won't do much of anything. Besides, if you hate garlic, chances are you won't enjoy my foodie blog.

In a medium sauce pan put 2 -3 tablespoons of olive oil. Then crush the garlic into the olive oil. Don't put the heat on yet; garlic burns easy and I cannot emphasize enough that burned garlic will ruin your sauce. I like to take the extras out of the garlic press, chop it and put it in there as well, but, as I keep saying, "GARLIC FREAK!!"

Now put on the heat; a low flame. Not super low but not really at medium. With a spoon, I prefer the wooden kind, stir the garlic as it sautes. Watch it careful, don't let it brown at all. If it browns then, well, I won't repeat myself.

When the garlic is looking a little soft add the tomatoes and basil. Rinse out the bowl and add those tomatoes as well. The more water you add the longer it takes to thicken so if you don't like a watery gravy be aware of how much water you are adding.

Once the tomatoes and basil are in the pan, wash the potato or carrot off and then cut it up in pieces about 2-3 inches thick. The potato or carrot is how we pull the acidity out of the tomatoes. If you don't use something to pull out the acidity then your sauce will be ______ (fill in the blank).

Over the years I have found many methods of pulling the acid out of the tomatoes. Some cooks like to use a touch of baking soda. I'm not a fan of the way it makes the sauce taste. Another method is adding sugar but I found that just sweetens up the sauce opposed to pulling out the acid. If you prefer a sweet sauce, by all means, add some sugar, but still use the potato or carrot method to ease up the tartness. Sweet sauces and non sweet as well as thick or chunky are all a matter of taste. (FYI The word sauce is used excessively in this paragraph because the fact is that's what most people call it. In my heart, it will always be gravy.)

Put the potato or carrot pieces in the sauce. Add your salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a slow boil and let cook on a low heat until the potato or carrot pieces are cooked enough that you can put a fork in them and easily pull it out. At that point the sauce is done and ready for pasta

Now you may be wondering, "What is it with all this potato OR carrot thing she keeps talking about?" Well, I never use both but I found that both work. The only difference is if you use a potato, pull it out once you can remove the fork from it otherwise the potato will break up and lighten the color of your gravy. A carrot won't do that.

While your marinara is cooking is the time to get the broccoli salad ready.

Broccoli Salad with garlic (surprise!), lemon and olive oil

Must haves

• Broccoli (preferably steamed and chilled)
• One juicy lemon or two not-so-juicy lemons
• 4-6 cloves of garlic (I use 6)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Oregano

Cut the broccoli into pieces that you feel are sufficient. Just a warning, you cut it too small the tree tops break up and it's not as pretty looking.

I like to toss salads in BIG bowls. Just pouring dressings over the top never works out well. Some parts have dressing; others don't; it's complete anarchy. Press your garlic over the broccoli and then toss it in the bowl. If you don't have fresh garlic which, shocker here, does happen in my house on occasion, use garlic powder. But don't mistake me, nothing beats fresh garlic.

Next, add some salt and pepper to taste. Toss the salad. Add some oregano. Toss the sald. Add a touch of olive oil and toss. When I say "a touch of olive oil" I mean enough to coat the broccoli but don't drown it. Salads were not meant to swim in dressings. If that were the case then they would be born with little arms and legs. Next add the juice of one lemon. You should juice the lemon in a bowl before hand to remove any seeds. Then do you know what to do? You got it! Toss the salad.

I like to toss after each spice or ingredient is added; it coats the salad more thoroughly. Taste it. If you like it more tart add the juice of another lemon.

Pasta

This part is completely up to you. I prefer rigatoni; I'm not sure why I just always did. There are so many types of pasta out there I highly doubt anyone would have trouble finding what they prefer. Just remember this, the longer and thinner the pasta (capellini or linguine) the more gravy it soaks up.

Bring your water to a boil. A good way to get that going is to add some salt to the water. About a tablespoon for a pound of pasta. Once the water is boiling add your pasta. I'm sure everyone has heard the term al dente. That term translates literally to, "to the tooth". It is the only way to eat pasta; there's not much worse than mushy macaroni.

A great way to always have al dente pasta is to eat the whole wheat kind. When whole wheat pasta is over cooked, it breaks up but always has a bite to it.

But if you are a traditionalist then just continually stir and sample the pasta until it is cooked the way you like it.

Then, mangia! Mangia mi amici!!

I will leave you with the immortal words of my Grandma, who used to tell me when I was eating pasta at her house on Sundays. "Camille, what's better than one dish of macaroni?" I'd smile with my fork in my hand, "Two dishes of macaroni!!"