Having friends and family over for dinner doesn’t have to break the bank. Allow us to help you feed a party of 4 for less than R150! Every Monday we bring you lip-smacking, budget-friendly recipes paired with a bottle of wine at pocket-friendly prices.

Meat Loaf with Creamy Onion Gravy

Serve this American favourite with creamy gravy and pair it with a bottle of Oude Werf Red.

Cost of ingredients: R120
Cost of wine: R30
Total cost: R150

Ingredients

For the loaf

1/3 cup Green onions
3 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
500g ground Beef mince
1 egg
6 tablespoons tomato sauce

For the gravy

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large white onions, thinly sliced (about 6 cups)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions 

For the Meatloaf

1. Preheat oven to 200C.

2. Combine first 9 ingredients in a large bowl; add 1/4 cup ketchup. Mix beef mixture with hands just until combined. Shape beef mixture into a 9 x 4–inch loaf on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 200C for 20 minutes. Brush top of meat loaf with remaining 2 tablespoons ketchup. Bake 7 additional minutes or until done. Slice loaf into 8 equal pieces.

For the sauce:

In a large saucepan, melt the butter in the olive oil. Add the sliced white onions and stir to coat.

Cover and cook over moderate heat until the onions are very soft but not browned, 10 to 12 minutes.

Stir in the flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and cook, whisking frequently, until the gravy is thickened, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and simmer the onion gravy over moderate heat for about 5 minutes.

Transfer the onion gravy to a blender and puree until smooth. Season with salt and black pepper. Return the onion gravy to the saucepan and simmer until it is reduced to 5 cups, about 5 minutes.