Mexican Chorizo Meatloaf
Ingredients
- For the meatloaf:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup red onion chopped
- 1 unit carrot finelly chopped
- 1/2 cup green bell pepper seeded, finely chopped
- or
- 1/2 cup Pickled prickly pear (Nopalitos) What is this? See notes, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 lbs ground beef
- 6 oz. Mexican pork chorizo uncooked, casing removed and crumbled
- 1 unit Poblano chile skin blistered (see notes), peeled, seeded, deveined and cut into small squares
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp Chipotle powder
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin optional
- 2 units large eggs beaten
- 1/4 cup Mexican or sour cream
- 1/4 cup Ketchup
- 1 sleeve Garlic Butter Ritz crackers crushed
- or
- 1/2 cup Panko crumbs or dried breadcrumbs
- For the glaze:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic peeled
- 1/4 cup red or white onion chopped
- 1 10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies, or
- just the diced tomatoes if you don't like your food too spicy
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1/2 - 1 unit Chipotle chili seeded and deveined, wear food-grade latex gloves to do this.
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Add the olive oil to a skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, green bell pepper or noplitos and minced garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft, about 6 - 8 minutes. Set aside. Let them cool down a bit.
- Once the sauteed veggies have cooled down, combine them with the ground beef, chorizo, diced Poblano, salt, spices, beaten eggs, cream and Ketchup. Add the Ritz garlic crackers (or Panko or breadcrumbs) on top and mix everything well with clean hands, without overmixing.
- Put the mixture into a 9 x 13" loaf pan. Alternatively, flip mixture over a cookie baking pan lined with foil and form the meatloaf with your hands. Bake until a thermometer inserted into the center of the meatloaf reads 160 degrees F (45 - 50 minutes, depending on your oven). Remove from the oven and carefully discard any pan juices. Wait 15 minutes before slicing.
- Make the Salsa Glaze:
- Sautee the garlic and onion in the olive oil. Once fragrant and soft add the tomatoes with (or without) green chiles, the sugar, mustard and Chipotle. Stir often and cook for 3 - 5 minutes over Medium-High heat. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Top the slices of meatloaf with some Salsa Glaze and serve with salad or mashed potatoes.
Notes
"Nopalitos" are tender thorny cactus paddles popular and widely used in Mexico. They are also called "Prickly Pear". In Mexico merchants remove their thorns, then sliced them thinly. The nopalitos are later cooked and used in different dishes, like this Healthy Nopalito Salad. They are also known to have many health benefits, particularly for diabetics. If you don't live near a Mexican market where the Nopalitos are sold fresh, you can find them bottled and pickled in the International/Latino food aisle under different Mexican brands.
To blister the Poblano, rinse it under running water, place it in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and blister the skin flipping the Poblano often, using tongs, to achieve an even blistering. Just blister the skin; do not burn the flesh of the chili. Once evenly blistered, place into a bag, let it sweat for 15 to 25 minutes, then wearing latex gloves peel it, devein and remove all seeds.