Italian Spinach Meatloaf

My in-laws were visiting last weekend and I decided to make a meatloaf. I wanted to add veggies to it to up the nutritional content so I winged it. The measurements I included are approximate only since I did not measure anything.

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 egg

1 cup italian breadcrumbs

2-3 cups fresh spinach leaves

3 cloves garlic

2 carrots, coarsely chopped

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1 tsp cumin

2-3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Salt and black pepper, to taste

1 can diced tomatoes, drained, divided

1 1/2 tsp fennel seed

1 tsp oregano

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Put spinach leaves, garlic, carrots, and onion in a food processor and pulse until well minced. If no food processor then cut all into tiny pieces.

3. Put spinach mixture into a large bowl and add beef, egg, breadcrumbs, cumin, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, 1/2 can of the diced tomatoes, fennel, and oregano. Mix until well combined.

4. Form mixture into a loaf in a 9x13 baking dish.

5. Cover loaf with the remaining diced tomatoes and black pepper to taste.

6. Bake 45-60 minutes until meatloaf is fully cooked.

(For my oven I covered with foil for 45 minutes, and a small portion in the middle of the loaf was still pink so I baked it for another 7 minutes uncovered and it was perfect).

I got rave reviews from my husband and in-laws. I personally thought it tasted great but was soggier than I would have liked so next time I make it I will increase the amount of breadcrumbs to hopefully make it a bit firmer. I may also add some more veggies like celery or green bell peppers.

Here is a picture of the finished product.