Egg yolk flowing like lava over delicious meatloaf and melted gouda cheese. We haven’t even put the chipotle sauce on yet… 

My grandmother made meatloaf. My mother made the same meatloaf. Ground beef, an egg or two, breadcrumbs, milk, a dash of salt, a few grinds of pepper. Put it in a loaf pan, top it with ketchup, bake it, slice it, serve it with mashed potatoes. Not as tasty as a grilled hamburger… In fact, those meatloaf recipes of the past weren’t as good as a lot of things, and so for many of us this traditional dish has fallen by the wayside.

Time to look at meatloaf in a new way. Think of the following recipe as a foundation to come up with your own twist on this iconic American comfort food.

We served slices of the finished meatloaf on pan-toasted beer bread, one side of which was covered with melted gouda cheese. The poached egg on top – not an idea original to us – was perfect. After five miles of hiking through the city of Ulaanbaatar on a sunny, sub-freezing day in Mongolia, we had little difficulty polishing off these hot, hearty sandwiches.

Smoky Chipotle Meatloaf Sandwich

Ingredients

• 1/3 pound thick-cut bacon, diced small
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup onion diced fine
• 3/4 cup yellow or orange bell pepper diced fine
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup diced crimini mushrooms (or other fresh mushroom)
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp powdered chipotle chili pepper
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tbsp dry oregano
• 1 tsp smoked sea salt (or use regular salt)
• a few grinds black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 2 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 2 cups grated mozzarella
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chipotle barbecue sauce (see recipe below)

Directions

1. Grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with butter. You will need a sheet of aluminum foil to cover this pan.
2. Set oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).
3. In a pan over medium heat, fry bacon until thoroughly cooked but not crisp. Remove bacon and set aside. Save bacon grease in pan.
4. Over medium heat, add olive oil to bacon grease. Add diced onions and cook for about 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Add diced bell peppers and continue cooking and stirring occasionally till onions turn translucent and bell peppers are soft. Remove onions and bell peppers from pan and set aside to cool.
5. Place egg in a large bowl. Add soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, powdered chipotle, paprika, oregano, salt and black pepper. Whisk together.
6. To the egg mixture, add all remaining ingredients except the barbecue sauce. Gently fold everything together with your hands. Keep in mind that while you do want everything evenly mixed together, the less you handle the ground beef, the better the texture of your baked loaf will be.
7. Place meat mixture in greased loaf pan, pressing down as you would a hamburger. Slightly indenting the center will result in a finished loaf with a more even top, as the center will rise when baking.
8. Top the loaf with chipotle barbecue sauce, cover pan with aluminum foil and place in oven.
9. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 40 minutes.
10. Remove loaf from oven. Let rest for 10 minutes. Gently flip the loaf out onto a serving platter.
11. Melt a slice of gouda cheese on pan-fried toast made from rustic bread. Place a slice of meatloaf on the toast with the cheese, slather the other slice of toast with additional chipotle barbecue sauce, place a poached or easy-over egg atop the meatloaf and dig in.

Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients (When adding the seasonings, begin with a little and add more to taste.)

• 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
• 1 tsp dry oregano
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp powdered chipotle chili pepper
• couple grinds black pepper
• water, as necessary, to achieve desired consistency. The sauce should be fairly thick.

Directions

1. Combine ingredients in a pot.
2. Simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Pan-fried Toast

1. Place about 1 tbsp of good olive oil in a frying pan for each slice of bread to be toasted.
2. Over medium heat, bring oil to a soft sizzle.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and place the bread slices in the pan and fry for about 2 minutes on each side, until surface is golden and crispy.
4. For an extra kick of garlic, coat one side of each slice with olive oil and top with minced garlic. Take care not to burn the garlic. This is a family favorite.