Meatloaf was one of my husband’s favorite dishes when we were still eating meat.
I totally forgot about even the existence of this dish, but a few weeks ago he talked about it, and I kind of took it as a challenge.
I have actually made vegan meatloaf in the past, but it was not my favorite.
Although it tasted pretty good, but the texture was off.
It was a little too soft, and “beany”.
So this time I took some time really thinking about the best ingredients and the process to achieve the taste AND the texture that would satisfy me.
And I think I succeeded!
It’s got a nice crusty crust outside, the inside is moist and juicy, but got the right texture, definitely not soft or “beany” at all.
It’s almost crazy that it looks like the real “meat” meatloaf!
With a strong request from my husband, this meatloaf was served with gravy, instead of ketchup-based sauce.
My V-gravy recipe is found here.
The more gravy, the better anything tastes!
Okay, one more picture.
I hope you can really get an idea of how wonderful its texture is.
Leftover meatloaf was crumbled into small pieces and cooked with additional herbs and spice to make Italian sausage and then added to my tomato sauce.
I served it over spinach bowtie pasta, and it was a big hit at our house.
Here is the recipe for the V-Meatloaf.
Next time I will probably double the recipe so that I will have extra for making sausage, burger, or meatballs.
That’s how much we liked it!
1 cup walnuts
1 cup cooked lentils (do not cook too soft)
1 cup cooked wheat berries
1 cup quick oats
0.5 cup baguette slices soaked in soy milk (and then squeeze the milk out)
mixture of 3 tablespoons of flaxseed meal and 5 tablespoons of vegetable broth
1.5~2 cups mixture of chopped and sauteed garlic (3~4 cloves), 1 onion, 2 stalks celery, 1 package crimini mushrooms
1 tablespoon soy sauce
a pinch of sugar
salt and pepper
dried thyme
canola oil for brushing
1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Process walnuts in a food processor until chopped into small pieces (do not make it into paste).
3. Add lentils, wheat berries, quick oats, and baguette to the walnuts. Process (pulse) until the mixture looks half paste and half coarse.
4. Take the mixture out of the food processor into a large bowl.
5. Add the flaxseed-broth mixture, vegetable mixture, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, and thyme. Mix well.
6. Place in a parchment paper lined pan; I sed 9.5 x 5.5 x 2.5 pan, but only filled about a little over a 2/3 length.
7. Cook in the oven for 50 minutes. Brush the top with oil. Cook for another 10 minutes. I broiled the top for a few minutes to give the extra crustiness.
