A common occurence in our house is me being over-excited about cooking something and Christopher who looks at me and says: I don’t like it. He is not picky my boyfriend (I’m actually the picky one) but he does not see the appeal with certain things.

The same thing happened with the pasta bake. Christopher thought it would be awful, but I proved him wrong. And now we went through the same scenario with the meatloaf. And the meatloaf won of course. How could it not when it had the flavours of garlic and fresh basil, was wrapped in smoked bacon and glazed with the Pioneerwoman’s glaze (who by the way is the queen of meatloaves)?!

Meatloaf with garlic and basil, wrapped in bacon, serves 4

500 g beef mince

100 ml breadcrumbs

50 ml milk

1 egg

salt

black pepper

a handful of basil, chopped

1 large clove of garlic, pressed

1 packet of smoked bacon

Glaze:

100 ml ketchup

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/2-1 tsp Enlish mustard or mustard powder

tabasco to taste

Add breadcrumbs, milk and the egg to a bowl. Leave for a few minutes so the bread can soak up the liquid. Season with plenty of salt and pepper. Add the basil, garlic and the mince. Mix thoroughly.

Drizzle oil in a roasting tray and place the mince shaped as a loaf on it. Cover with the bacon, overlapping each slice, and tuck the ends in underneath the meatloaf.

Mix the ingredients for the glaze and spread it on top of the loaf. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes on 200C. Leave to cool for a few minutes before serving, which makes it easier to cut nice slices.