This delicious dish is adapted from a Women’s Weekly recipe in the Best Food Collection. I use pancetta instead of bacon, but either works just as well. This is a great standby recipe that you can keep changing – in summer, use sun-dried tomato and basil instead of apples and sage, and leave out the cumin.
TO DRINK: Raats Family Wines Cabernet Franc 2007: the leafy forest floor notes, elegant firm structure and ripe berry flavours bring out the best in this dish.
Veal and pancetta meatloaf with maple roasted apple wedges
Ingredients
- 10 slices pancetta
- 10ml (2 tsp) olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 celery stalk, finely sliced
- 5ml (1 tsp) cumin seeds
- 1 green apple, cored and grated
- 200g veal mince
- 300g sausage meat or pork mince
- 60g (1 cup) fresh breadcrumbs
- 15ml (1 tbsp) fresh sage, chopped
- 15ml (1 tbsp) fresh thyme leaves
- 15ml (1 tbsp) wholegrain mustard
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 30ml (2 tbsp) apple jelly
- 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and quartered
- 50ml maple syrup
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Lay the pancetta out on a greased sheet of foil.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and sauté the onion, garlic, celery, cumin seeds and apple until the liquid from the apple evaporates. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the meat, breadcrumbs, herbs, mustard and egg with the apple mixture. Mix well, then transfer to a board and shape into a log. Transfer the meatloaf log to the pancetta-lined foil and roll tightly in the foil.
Place the foil-wrapped meatloaf on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, then remove the foil and brush with the apple jelly. Add the apple wedges to the tray and drizzle with the maple syrup. Return to the oven and bake until the apples are soft and the pancetta is brown and crispy, about 10 minutes.
Slice and serve with the apples.
