tomato-glazed meatloaves with brown butter mashed potatoes

I am a sucker for a good meatball. Something happens when you mix otherwise one-dimensional ground meats up with fresh breadcrumbs, herbs, seasonings and make a great sauce to go with it and that is that I will swat your fork away to get at them first. I always believed I held no such adoration for meatloaf until I mentioned this one day — here, on my invisible soapbox — and someone in the comments asked gently, as if they understood they were speaking to a very easily confused individual, if I knew that meatloaf is basically one giant meatball? And well, no, I had not. Armed with this eye-opening revelation, I set out to address what I found so off-putting about meatloaf. First, I mean obviously, the word and concept of a loaf of meat. I don’t care how many freshly snipped herbs on top and how heavily you lay on the Clarendon filter, a slab of ground meat is always going to be a thing we look past to get to the flavor we love within. And so I decided to make them more like meatballs — round, a bit more tender, and possibly, if you really squint your eyes, a littlecute. Okay, yes, I know, that’s a stretch. Next, I addressed the ketchup meatloaf is often coated with. Let me be absolutely clear: I love ketchup. I have no foodie shame about the delight of a Heinz bottle, in fact, I share a Jeffrey Steingarten level of awe over “our proudest, perhaps our only, homegrown sauce achievement,” andthiswas about the hardest I have laughed at a food article in the last six months because it’s completely true. But I find it a little thin on meatloaf and so I decided to make my own tart-sweet tomato-ish sauce for the top of my baby meatloaves with tomato paste, Dijon, cider vinegar and a few other things simmered for two minutes until smooth and guys, it’s ketchup. Slightly more tart and thick but it’s basically no more a tomato sauce than these are classic meatballs. Take this information as you wish. Because I think we can all agree that vegetables within meatloaf are delicious and essential but chunks of carrots and peas poking out all over are… unsettling, I coarsely grind my vegetables before sauteeing them and adding them to the meatloaf mixture. Finally, because life it too short to eat inferior mashed potatoes, I make mine with a shameless amount of brown butter and then buttermilk for tang and it’s been hard to make them any other way since. I published this recipe the first time inThe Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, but as we have shivered through snowstorms, wind and general February-ness lately, a few requests have come in for a meatloaf recipe and as this is the very best I have ever made, I hope you’ll agree. One year ago:Broccoli MeltsTwo years ago:Perfect Corn MuffinsThree years ago:Stuck-Pot Rice with Lentils and YogurtFour years ago:Italian Stuffed CabbageFive years ago:Double Coconut MuffinsSix years ago:Green Bean Salad with Pickled Red Onions and Fried AlmondsSeven years ago:Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes with Mint CreamandSpaghetti Cacio e PepeEight years ago:Alex’s Mom’s Stuffed CabbageandToasted Coconut ShortbreadNine years ago:Best Chocolate PuddingTen! years ago:Mom’s Chocolate Chip Meringues And for the other side of the world:Six Months Ago:Burrata with Lentils and Basil Vinaigrette1.5 Years Ago:Frozen Hot Chocolate2.5 Years Ago:Apricot Pistachio SquaresandRaspberry Swirl Cheesecake3.5 Years Ago:Kale Salad with Pecorino and Walnuts4.5 Years Ago:My Favorite Brownies