This spicy twist on meatloaf has a Southwest kick and brings some heat with it.
Ingredients
Meatloaf
1 lb Ground Beef
½ lb Breakfast Sausage
6 oz Chorizo
3 strips Bacon (Minced)
½ Cup Onions Diced
1 Roast Jalapeño
1 Roast New Mexico Chili
¾ Cups Tortilla Chips, Crushed
4 oz Shredded Jack Cheese
2 Eggs
Dash of Salt
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
½ Teaspoon Cumin
Sauce
2 12 oz Cans of Diced Tomatoes and Green Chiles
¼ Cup Chipotle Chilis in Adobo Sauce (Minced)
1 Cup Ketchup or Barbecue Sauce
½ Medium Onion Sliced
Directions
This recipe originated when I was cleaning out the freezer and found several different frozen meats that seemed like they might come together rather nicely to make a tasty meatloaf. For the ground beef, you can substitute ground turkey or chicken, but you may want to add a little bit of oil because they may not bring as much fat as the beef. For the ground breakfast sausage, you can substitute ground pork or Italian sausage.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Roast the chilis in advance (more on that here), then remove the skins and dice them up. Place all the ingredients for the meatloaf in a large bowl and mix them together. For best results, you are going to want to get in there with your hands to make sure all the ingredients are well-combined. Then form this into a rectangular loaf in a 9 by 13 baking dish.
In a bowl, mix the two cans of diced tomatoes and chilis with the chipotle chilis and ketchup/barbecue sauce. Pour that over the meatloaf then cover the dish with foil and place in the oven. Keep the onions in reserve.
After 1 ¾ hours, increase the oven temperature to 350. Remove the foil from the dish and evenly distribute the onions across the meatloaf and the sauce. Cook for another thirty minutes. You want it to get to at least 160 degrees in the center. Once it is done cooking, let it set for about fifteen to twenty minutes then serve with mashed potatoes or a side dish of your choice.
The New Mexico chili does not bring a lot of heat, that is more about the roast pepper taste. If you prepare the recipe as indicated above, it will come in around the Mild heat level. If you want to kick it up, substitute two more roast jalapenos, or add a roast serrano. Or if you want to really spice things up, add a roast habanero or two (that kicks up the flavor as well).
Unless you are feeding a big family, you will likely have leftovers, so you can use those for one of my favorite things: meatloaf sandwich. Slice of a piece of the meatloaf and put it in a pre-heated skillet with just a touch of oil or cooking spray. Then scoop some of that sauce into the skillet as well. After about three minutes, flip the piece of meatloaf, scoop that sauce on the meat, and top it with a piece of cheese (pepper jack or Swiss work really well). Cover the skillet and cook another three minutes.
While you are cooking the meatloaf, toast a couple of slices of bread. Sourdough works well but wheat is okay as a healthier choice. Place the cooked meatloaf, sauce, and cheese between the toasted slices of bread, cut on a diagonal, and you have a tasty and spicy sandwich!