Meatloaf

In the fridge we had some tired-looking chestnut mushrooms, a packet of beef mince, some smoked bacon rashers and an onion. And at some point between thought and action the ragu that I had planned became meatloaf.

I do like a bit of meatloaf, but it isn't for me one of those misty-eyed tastes of childhood. I don't think we ever had it when I was growing up. This staple of American home-cooking is a relatively recent discovery, which I feel liberates me. I don't have the one best way that I always do it, I can just go with my heart. And on this occasion my heart said wrap it in bacon and do it free-form.

So. The mince, the mushrooms, an onion, an egg and some breadcrumbs were seasoned generously with some smoky barbecue sauce, patted onto overlapping bacon rashers topped with slices of tomato, then wrapped and flipped to get the nice presentation side up.

A hot-ish oven and about 45 minutes cooking, then sliced and served with some of my bottled baked beans. It was good, but I think the cold slice in a sandwich the following day was even better.