Oat-y Meatloaf (or Meatballs)
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup milk (preferably whole)
2 teaspoons minced garlic plus 3 or 4 peeled cloves
1 cup Rolled Oats
2 teaspoons dried oregano or Italian seasoning blend
Salt and pepper
1 onion
2 large (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 egg
1 pound ground beef (or other ground meat)
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan
Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, for serving
Instructions
Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease a large rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Put the milk and 2 teaspoons garlic in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring once or twice, until it’s steaming and starting to form tiny bubbles, 3 to 5 minutes. (Or use a large microwave-safe bowl with a lid to warm the milk and garlic.)
Remove the milk from the heat. Add the oats and the oregano or Italian seasoning; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir until the oats are coated, press them into the milk with the back of the spoon, and cover. Let the oats steep while you start the sauce.
Chop the onion and the garlic cloves. Put the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When it shimmers add the onion and garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently until the vegetables soften and just begin to turn golden, about 2 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and bay leaves and bring to a boil; adjust the heat so the sauce bubbles gently but steadily. Stir a couple times, then cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meatloaf (or meatballs) is ready to serve, 25 to 40 minutes, depending on what you’re making.
While the sauce simmers, make the meatloaf (or balls). By now the oats should have absorbed all (or most) of the milk. Beat the egg into the mixture with a fork. Add the ground meat and gently combine with your hands or a large rubber spatula. You want the oats to be fairly evenly distributed without too much handling or squishing. To adjust the seasonings, cook a pinch of the mixture in the microwave or a small pan and add more salt, pepper, or dried herbs if you’d like.
For meatloaf, transfer the meat-and-oat mixture to the center of the prepared baking pan. Shape it into one or two ovals of any size, patting and pressing gently to make them as uniformly thick and wide as possible. Thicker loaves will take longer to bake than thick ones and that’s fine; you just want them to cook evenly throughout. (For meatballs, use two spoons or a small ice cream scooper to scoop and drop clumps of the mixture onto the baking sheet. You want them to be about the same size but anywhere between 1 to 2 inches across is fine.) Gently shaping the meatloaf (or meatballs with spoons) will help avoid overworking so you end up with the tenderest results.
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the meatloaf (or loaves, or meatballs) are fully cooked to the center, 30 to 40 minutes for 3-inch-thick loaves (or 25 to 30 minutes for 1 1/2-inch meatballs. You can turn the meatballs once if you like but you don’t need to. And if you want to transfer the meatballs to the sauce when they’re done baking, that’s always an option to keep them warm for serving. Just be careful not to cook too long or stir them too much that they break apart.)
When the meatloaf (or loaves, or meatballs) are ready, lower the oven to 200°F to keep them warm while you get the rest of the meal finished. (They’ll be fine for 20 minutes or so.) Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning then serve, passing cheese at the table if you’d like.