Winner winner, chicken dinner

My prize from the D'Italiano Reinvent Your Passion competition has finally arrived and to celebrate I am going to share the recipe I entered first!

That's right, I entered two recipes in the competition and until now my first recipe has been hidden from everyone's eyes but my own.

Here are some clues to the mystery recipe:

It's warm, delicious, and traditional.

It's something that Luke turned his nose up at until he tried a bite of mine.

Some think it's boring and plain, but I sure don't.

It's meatloaf! But while a meatloaf by any other name might be looked at as boring, mine is really tasty. It really will perk up your taste buds and refresh your memories of the cafeteria mystery meat pucks to a taste of something special instead of grey junk.

I think it's a first rate meal and most likely didn't make the cut because it didn't celebrate bread as much as my bread pudding did. But had it been a meatloaf competition, you can be the judge!

Cheesy Swirl Meatloaf

1 lb ground meat (lean ground beef or ground chicken)
1/4 cup bread crumbs or 1 piece of bread torn into small chunks
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon mustard
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh herbs, minced
1 cup cooked spinach, fresh or frozen and measured after cooking
1/2 cup sliced cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine bread crumbs, egg, ground ginger, ketchup, mustard, garlic, and herbs in a large bowl. Mix well.

3. Add ground meat and mix with hands until combined.

4. Spread meat mixture on the bottom of a 9 inch square baking dish. Cover with spinach and then top with cheese evenly.

5. With your fingers underneath one side of the meat mixture, roll the meat, spinach, and cheese over itself about a quarter of the way  across the pan. Continue rolling like a jelly roll until you have a loaf shape. If the spinach or cheese is poking out a side, just pat the meat around it to reshape.

6. Bake for about an hour or until the meat is cooked through. Enjoy!

And if you have any leftovers, try my favourite sandwich of all time-- The Meatloaf Sandwich:

Take a few slices of bread and toast them.

Put the bottom slice on a plate, cover with a piece of meatloaf and a bit of extra cheese, and microwave for about 30 seconds to warm the meatloaf.

Then smear a little mayonnaise on the other slice of toast, top the melted cheese with a little extra spinach, and sandwich everything together. Yum!

So who's heading out to buy some ground meat? I know I am because this recipe always makes me hungry.