Name: Whole baked pumpkin meatloaf
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 145 min
Total time: 170 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 3.3kg whole Kent (Jap) pumpkin; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 300g beef mince; 500g Italian pork and fennel sausages, skin removed; 1/4 cup finely chopped roasted red capsicum; 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley; 1 free-range egg, lightly beaten; 2 Tbsp smoky BBQ sauce; 1/2 cup grated tasty cheese; Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season

This stunner is impressive enough to serve directly on the table but deceptively simple to make.

The secret to moist meatloaf

The secret to moist meatloaf lies in using a combination of lean and fatty ground meats, as well as incorporating moistening ingredients like vegetables, eggs, and even soaked breadcrumbs.

On the hand, if your meatloaf is too mushy and falling apart, it could be from using too much liquid, overmixing the ingredients, or not using enough binding agents like eggs and breadcrumbs.

Dont have breadcrumbs? You can use alternatives like rolled oats, crushed crackers, or cooked quinoa to help bind the meatloaf mixture.

Should you baking meatloaf covered or uncovered?

It’s generally recommended to bake meatloaf uncovered. This allows the surface to brown and develop a desirable crust. If the top starts to darken too much, you can loosely cover it with foil.

Ingredients

3.3kg whole Kent (Jap) pumpkin

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

300g beef mince

500g Italian pork and fennel sausages, skin removed

1/4 cup finely chopped roasted red capsicum

1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 free-range egg, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp smoky BBQ sauce

1/2 cup grated tasty cheese

Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional).

Wrap pumpkin in 2 layers of foil. Put on a lined oven tray, bake for 11/2 hours or until just tender. Cut a lid from pumpkin about 2cm from top. Scoop out and discard seeds and pulp. (You should have a 3cm thick border and a 4-cup capacity hole.) Remove any excess liquid from pumpkin.

Meanwhile, combine onion, garlic, beef, sausages, capsicum, parsley, egg, sauce and cheese in a large bowl. Season.

Spoon mixture into pumpkin, cover with pumpkin lid. Bake for 45 minutes.

Remove lid from pumpkin and place skin side down on tray next to pumpkin. Bake for 20 minutes or until pumpkin is tender when pierced with a skewer and meatloaf is cooked through and golden. Stand for 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

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You might also like to make Fast Ed’s herb and lamb mince flat breads

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Rebecca Lyall and Clare Maguire