This recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen and can be found here.
If you think “frosting” is just for cake, think again. This homey, World War II–era dish coats traditional meatloaf with a layer of mashed potatoes before baking. Making a free-form meatloaf instead of using a loaf pan allowed us to easily cover the top and sides of the loaf. We found that we had to bake the meatloaf before applying the mash, and to keep the mash from sliding off, we broil the meatloaf twice: first naked to create a crust and then coated with a tangy glaze for flavor. After we frost the loaf, a final stint under the broiler turns the fluffy crown of potatoes beautifully brown.
Before you begin: If you don’t have a ricer or a food mill, just mash the potatoes thoroughly.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar (packed)
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon hotsauce
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, mince
- 17 square or 19 round saltine crackers
- 1 cup milk
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup parsley
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- salt
- black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 pounds russet potatoes
Directions
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat broiler. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, set wire rack in sheet, and place 14 by 6-inch piece of foil in center of rack. Whisk ketchup, sugar, vinegar, and hot sauce together in bowl; set aside glaze.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until just softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Set aside off heat.
- Combine saltines and 1/3 cup milk in large bowl and mash with fork until chunky paste forms. Add pork, eggs and yolk, parsley, mustard, Worcestershire, 1 teaspoon salt, 3/4 teaspoon pepper, thyme, and onion mixture and knead with your hands until mostly combined. Add beef and knead until combined.
- Transfer meat mixture to foil rectangle on wire rack and form into 9 by 6-inch loaf. Broil on upper-middle oven rack until well browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Brush glaze over top and sides of meatloaf, return to upper-middle rack, and broil until glaze begins to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Move meatloaf to lower-middle oven rack, adjust oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake until meatloaf registers 160 degrees, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven.
- Meanwhile, bring potatoes and 2 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are tender, 20 to 25 minutes; drain potatoes thoroughly in colander. Set ricer or food mill over now-empty pot and press or mill potatoes into pot. Stir 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 6 tablespoons butter, and remaining 2/3 cup milk into potatoes until combined.
- Using offset spatula, spread mashed potatoes evenly over top and sides of meatloaf. Heat broiler and return meatloaf to lower-middle oven rack. Broil until potatoes are browned, about 15 minutes. Using foil as sling, transfer meatloaf to carving board and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice and serve.