Name: Sausagemeat Loaf
Yield: Serves 6–8
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage; 2 slices of white bread, crusts removed, soaked in milk; 2 onions, chopped or minced; 1 egg, beaten; Finely grated zest of 1 lemon; 1 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram or thyme; Butter, melted; 350 g (12 oz) pork belly, skinned and boned; 175 g (6 oz) lean pork shoulder (or trimmed pigs’ cheeks, if available); 100 g (4 oz) pork fat; 10–12 rashers of rindless streaky bacon; Salt and pepper; Splash or two of Worcestershire sauce; Pinch of ground allspice; Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation info

Serves
6–8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

New British Classics

By Gary Rhodes

Published 1999

About

The basic idea of a meatloaf is a very old one. In the Middle Ages, they would pound meats together with spices and other flavourings before stiffening with eggs and breadcrumbs and baking. It is probable that the recipe was taken to America by the Pilgrim Fathers, and it has since come back to Britain as the seemingly uniquely American ‘meatloaf’.

A meatloaf is a useful dish as it can be eaten hot or cold, both giving and sharing lots of flavour. It’s as a cold dis