Mushroom Recipe Challenge: Mini Morel Meatloaf

For this recipe I chose morels because of their deep, earthy flavor and the fact that they work well in dishes like stuffing. As a meatloaf lover I'm fond of ordering the dish whenever I go to a new diner – frankly, if you can't do this down-home dish right I probably can't trust you with any of your more exotic endeavors. The following recipe makes wonderful mini meatloafs that would be great as appetizers. Makes 9 servings.

Ingredients
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped morels (approx 1/2 oz dried)
1 lb. ground beef or meatloaf mixture
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup mushroom stock
1/2 cup Havarti, shredded

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Reconstitute morels in boiling water to cover for about 20 minutes and reserve broth. Chop mushrooms. Heat saute pan over medium high heat, add olive oil and saute mushrooms and onions until onions are soft but now browned. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Use clean hands to mix ground beef, egg, parsley, bread crumbs, mushroom stock and mushroom/onion mixture in bowl. Coat muffin pan with cooking spray and place meatloaf mixture into muffin tin.

Bake approximately 40-50 minutes or until done. Remove from oven and top each loaf with shredded cheese. Return to oven 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.