Venison Meatloaf
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
30 mins
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Cook Time
1 hr 15 mins
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Total Time
1 hr 45 mins
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Servings
6 people
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Calories
429 kcal
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
American
Venison Meatloaf
Description
The recipe starts by soaking torn bread pieces in milk, while vegetables like onion, carrot, fennel, celery, and garlic are blitzed in a food processor to form a paste. This paste is sautéed with tomato sauce to soften and cool. The soaked bread is squeezed and mashed into a paste before combining with the cooled vegetable mixture, ground venison, grated Italian cheese, parsley, eggs, salt, and oregano.
The mix is worked thoroughly to integrate ingredients and promote tenderness. Once formed into a loaf, it is topped with marinara or simple tomato sauce and baked at 375°F until cooked through.
This game meatloaf has balanced moisture from bread and vegetable paste, accented by herbs and cheese. It works well served with mashed potatoes or polenta, and leftovers make flavorful sandwiches.
Use ground venison with some fat or combine lean venison with fatty pork or beef for juiciness. The vegetable mixture can be prepared a day or two ahead and kept refrigerated. For some heat, crushed red pepper flakes may be added.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups bread see recipe headnotes, torn to pieces
- 1 cup milk
- 1 onion chopped, small, yellow or white
- 1 carrot chopped roughly, medium
- 1 fennel bulb optional, small, chopped roughly
- 1 celery chopped, stalk
- 3 garlic chopped, cloves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds venison ground
- 1 cup Italian cheese parmesan or pecorino, grated
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce (or ketchup)
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons oregano dried
- 3 egg
- marinara sauce for painting the top and serving
Instructions
- Soak the bread cubes in a bowl with the milk while you chop the vegetables and get everything else ready. Put the roughly chopped vegetables into a food processor and blitz them until it begins to form something of a paste. This will keep the meatloaf super moist.
- Heat the olive oil in a small pan and sauté the vegetables from the food processor until soft. Add the tomato sauce and mix well. Cook this another couple minutes, then remove the mixture to a plate and spread it out: This helps it cool quickly.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. When the bread has softened, squeeze out the excess milk and chop and mash the soaked bread on a cutting board until it too forms something of a paste. Toss it and the cooled vegetable mixture into a large bowl. Add the ground venison, cheese, parsley, eggs, salt and oregano and combine. I like to actually work the meatloaf mix well because the bread and vegetable mix will keep it moist and tender -- normally you don't want to over work meatball mixes, but this is an exception. It will help the meatloaf bind together better.
- Grease a loaf pan; I use butter. The pan I use is a Pyrex 1 1/2-quart pan that is 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches. Something more ore less this size will be fine. Or, you can set the mixture on a greased baking sheet and mold it into a loaf. Pack the meat mixture into the pan and bake it until the center reads about 155°F, which will take roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes. I put the loaf pan on top of a baking sheet to catch any overflow of fat or tomato sauce.
- About 30 minutes before the meatloaf is ready (shoot for the 45-minute mark), paint the top of the loaf with marinara sauce. Have some more sauce warming in a small pot to serve with the finished meatloaf.
- Once the loaf is ready, sit it on the countertop for 5 minutes to rest before popping out of the loaf pan. Do this carefully. Slice and serve with sauce.
Notes
- Any smooth tomato or marinara sauce can be used for topping and serving, avoiding chunky varieties.
- Use ground venison with some fat, or mix lean venison with pork, beef, or veal for added moisture.
- The vegetable paste can be cooked up to two days before use and refrigerated.
- Add a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes for subtle spiciness.
- Venison meatloaf keeps well and makes excellent sandwiches for the next day.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 6people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 429 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 429kcal | 21% |
| Carbohydrates | 12g | 4% |
| Protein | 45g | 90% |
| Fat | 22g | 34% |
| Saturated Fat | 11g | 55% |
| Cholesterol | 222mg | 74% |
| Sodium | 1707mg | 71% |
| Potassium | 886mg | 19% |
| Fiber | 2g | 8% |
| Sugar | 6g | 12% |
| Vitamin A | 2360IU | 47% |
| Vitamin C | 10.1mg | 11% |
| Calcium | 301mg | 30% |
| Iron | 6mg | 33% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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