Pea Protein Meatloaf remake

Much of the consulting work I do is with plant based ingredients. I’ve developed several, excellent products which I proudly endorse but sadly, too many plant based products on the market are simply not delicious and often highly processed & unhealthy! Like many chefs, I prefer to celebrate vegetables and when I eat seafood, poultry or meat, I practice moderation, using meat as the garnish, not the center of the plate. I also am respectful to not waste any part of an animal and work to share this philosophy with consumers.

Childhood memories of special ingredients or meals are powerful. Most people have a memory of a favorite birthday meal or treasured holiday meal which creates happiness. Kitchen sounds, aromas and of course the flavors instantly bring us back in time. My mom cooked amazing Italian meals daily, she sometimes ventured into more American fare as well. One of her classics was meatloaf!

absolutely delicious and half the meat…

But, I added 20% pea protein & 30% sweated onion, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, brown rice and quinoa so that the recipe is now approximately 50% meat and 50% vegetables. It could easily be prepared with ground turkey or chicken. I’ve also made this with all pea protein crumble but my preference is the 50/50 formula.

I decided to remake my mother’s meatloaf, one of my childhood memories as a much healthier, yet delicious recipe. This meatloaf has half the meat as the original recipe and is loaded with healthy grains and vegetables.

I used the ground beef, pork, veal blend Mom used. I kept an egg as a binder, a little grated parmesan cheese, seasoned with very little salt and mom’s beloved Progresso breadcrumbs. I even added the whole, boiled egg garnish in the center like m mother always did.

I couldn’t resist undercooking the egg yolk for the egg garnish to just set/ my sister calls it runny… to be a little more contemporary and adding the whole, blanched carrots for garnish.