Meatloaf sarnie
Max Halley makes an enormous, epic sarnie with thick slices of homemade meatloaf, creamy mash and quick pickled carrots.
Ingredients
For the meatloaf
- 25g/1oz dried porcini mushrooms
- 3 tbsp full-fat milk
- 1 slice white bread, crusts removed
- 500g/1lb 2oz good-quality beef mince
- 1 tbsp onion, very finely chopped
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú mortadella, prosciutto or pancetta, chopped
- 100g/3½oz freshly grated parmesan
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 large free-range egg yolk
- 150g/5½oz fine, dried plain breadcrumbs
- 15g/½oz unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 100ml/3½fl oz white wine
- 400g tin plum tomatoes, chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pommes purée
- 500g/1lb 2oz potatoes, scrubbed and unpeeled
- 125²µ/4½´Ç³ú butter, cubed and chilled
- 125ml/4fl oz full-fat milk
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pickled carrots (1 litre/1¾ pint jar)
- 750ml/1¼ pint white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
- 460g/1lb caster sugar
- 700g/1lb 9oz carrots, julienned
For the sandwich
Method
To make the meatloaf, put the porcini mushrooms into a small bowl. Add 100ml/3½fl oz water straight from the kettle and allow to soak for at least 20 minutes. Drain over a muslin (keep the drained liquid) and chop the mushrooms into little pieces. Set aside.
Put the milk in a small saucepan and warm over a low heat. Add the bread, which will immediately soak up the milk. Mash it to a pulp using a fork. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
Put the beef mince, cooled bread mixture, onion, mortadella, parmesan, garlic, egg yolk, 1 teaspoon salt and 10–12 grinds black pepper into a large bowl. Knead the mixture thoroughly with your hands to get everything completely combined. Shape the meat into a wide sausage shape, making sure it fits into the pot you’re going to cook it in.
Slap the loaf all over to drive out the air, which will help prevent the meatloaf from falling apart. Roll the whole thing in breadcrumbs until completely coated and transfer to the fridge. Chill for at least 4 hours until set.
On the day of serving, set a large, lidded pot over a medium heat and add the butter and oil. When the butter foams, add the meatloaf to the pan and brown all over as best you can, turning carefully and trying not to break it. When the meatloaf is browned, add the wine and reduce to half its original volume, basting occasionally.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the chopped porcini mushrooms, chopped tomatoes and all their juice and filtered mushroom liquid. Bring to the boil. Give everything a good stir and baste the loaf a little. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, moving the loaf occasionally so it doesn’t stick. After 30 minutes, move the lid so it’s slightly askew and cook for another 30 minutes, turning the meat once if you can and regularly basting. Remove from the heat.
Rest the loaf in the pan for 5–10 minutes before transferring to a chopping board and cutting into thick slices.
If the sauce in the pot is a little runny, reduce it over a high heat until thickened. Keep both the meatloaf and sauce aside for sarnie assembly.
To make the pommes purée, put 1 litre/1¾ pint water, the potatoes and 1 tablespoon fine sea salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook until the potatoes are soft enough for a knife to slip through them easily – roughly 25 minutes.
Drain the potatoes and then peel them (use rubber gloves, if you like, to protect your hands from the heat). Put the potatoes through a ricer, using the finest disc. Transfer the potatoes to a dry pan over a medium heat to dry the potatoes out a little. Reduce the heat to low and beat in the butter, bit by bit, until all incorporated.
Put the milk in a separate pan and bring to the boil. Once super-hot, beat the milk into the potatoes a bit at a time. Once all the milk is incorporated, taste the mash and season with salt and pepper.
To make the pickled carrots, start by sterilising your 1 litre jar. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Wash the jar, lid and rubber ring in hot soapy water. Dry with a clean tea towel. Put the whole jar (excluding the rubber ring) into the oven for 10 minutes. Take out, let cool and reassemble without touching inside the jar. Your jar is now ready.
To make the pickling liquor, put the vinegar, sugar and 250ml/9fl oz water into a saucepan and bring the liquid to just below boiling. Stir until the sugar dissolves, take the pan off the heat and leave to cool completely.
Fill the sterilised jar with the carrots, making sure your hands don’t touch the inside, then pour over the cooled pickling liquor until everything is completely covered. If pieces of carrots are poking out, use a round of greaseproof paper and a fork to push them under the liquid. Seal the jar and leave somewhere cool and dark, like the fridge, for at least 3 hrs. The carrots will keep for a month as long as they stay submerged, and you don’t put dirty fingers inside the jar!
Now, assemble your sandwich. If using leftover meatloaf, preheat the oven to 90C/110C Fan/Gas 1. Pop the thick slices onto a baking tray and into the oven, slathered with the leftover sauce, for 10 minutes or until piping hot.
Heat up the pommes purée in a saucepan over a medium heat and drain some of the pickled carrots. Slice open your ciabatta, then slather the inside (top and bottom) with pommes purée. Lay the warm meatloaf slices on top of the mash and cover with any extra sauce you have from the tray. Put a big handful of carrots on top of the saucy meatloaf, sprinkle with parsley, put the lid on and tuck in!