Name: Meat Loaf
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds of beef; 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese; 2 eggs; Parsley; Salt and pepper; Worcestershire sauce; 1 onion, chopped; 1 garlic clove, crushed; Mix about 2 cups of bread crumbs with 3/4 cups of milk; Ketchup; Slices of red onion (keep intact so they are large disks); Red wine, eyeball it, about 1/2 cup (optional)

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Amy Sedaris's I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. For Sedaris's tips on throwing a Halloween party, click here.

Meat loaf has a lot of variations so be creative and change it up.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of beef

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

Parsley

Salt and pepper

Worcestershire sauce

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

Mix about 2 cups of bread crumbs with 3/4 cups of milk

Ketchup

Slices of red onion (keep intact so they are large disks)

Red wine, eyeball it, about 1/2 cup (optional)

Preparation

Mix everything together in one big bowl. Mix it really well using your hands. Add as much ketchup as desired to this mixture. Form into a loaf or ring pan, or make a shape and bake it in a large pan. Top meat loaf with the red onions and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. You can substitute bacon slices for the onion. All ingredients can vary.

Image may contain: Amy Sedaris, Book, Publication, Child, Person, Food, Meal, and Bread

TagsMeatloaf Red Wine Wine Alcohol Beverages American Ground Beef Beef Meat Parmesan Cheese Dairy Red Onion Onion Root Vegetable Vegetable Main Dinner Nut Free Easy Oven Bake Cookbooks

Recipe notes

Sofrito Bolognese

An ex-boyfriend’s mom—who emigrated from Colombia—made the best meat sauce—she would fry sofrito for the base and simply add cooked ground beef, sazón, and jarred tomato sauce. My version is a bit more bougie—it calls for caramelized tomato paste and white wine—but the result is just as good.

Beef Stroganoff Ramen

This traditional dish of beef, sour cream, and mustard may have originated in Russia, but it’s about time for a version with ramen noodles, don’t you think?

Smothered Italian Sausage

This is what I call a fridge-eater recipe. The key here is getting a nice sear on the sausage and cooking the tomato down until it coats the sausage and vegetables well.

Stir-Fried Phở Noodles With Beef

This dish is not only a quick meal option but also a practical way to use leftover phở noodles when you’re out of broth.

Chicken Croquettes

Rather than breaded and fried as you might expect croquettes to be, these are something more akin to a seared chicken salad patty.

Charred Vegetable Ragù

This sauce is slightly magical. The texture cloaks pasta much like a traditional meat sauce does, and the flavors are deep and rich, but it’s actually vegan!

Halloumi Lasagna

In this lasagna, soft layers of pasta and béchamel are interspersed with a rich tomato sauce laden with hearty Mediterranean vegetables.

Grasshopper Brownies

These decadent brownies feature a sweet, minty topping complemented by a rich dark chocolate ganache and mini chocolate chips for added texture.