Beef & bacon meatloaf with tomato sauce

Mix up your midweek dinner options and shape beef mince and smoked bacon lardons into a hearty loaf, topped with tangy onion marmalade

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
• 1 onion, chopped
• 200g smoked bacon lardons
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 50g fresh breadcrumbs
• 500g beef mince
• 1 egg
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500g pack passata
• 2 tbsp onion marmalade
• small pack basil, leaves only

Directions

STEP 1
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion and lardons until the onion is soft and the lardons are cooked through and golden at the edges. Remove from the heat and add the smoked paprika, breadcrumbs, mince, egg and half of the crushed garlic. Season and stir really well. Grease a 450g loaf tin with a little oil, then fill with the meat mixture. Spread 1 tbsp of the onion marmalade evenly over the top and place on a tray in the oven for 35-40 mins.

STEP 2
Meanwhile, pour the passata into a saucepan over a low heat, add the remaining garlic, the rest of the onion marmalade and half of the basil. Season, stir and heat gently until ready to serve.

STEP 3
Once the meatloaf is cooked through, take it out of the oven and let it sit for a few mins before turning out onto a plate to slice. Serve with the tomato sauce and the rest of the basil leaves scattered over.