Aaaah! Meatloaf! Perhaps one of the most unfashionable meals at the moment. Very unasthetic, and very American. And yes, very very Rossanneesque. But very very nice.

One of those dishes where you can shove anything in it, to make it YOUR personal signature dish. The main ingredient is mince. But why kind of mince? Any, depending on your tastes and preferences. Turkey mince, chicken mince, lamb mince, but I prefer beef mince.

If you are of South Asian or Middle Eastern descent (and lets face it, my fan base involves my closest friends and family), then think of meatload as one HUGE kebab, that is baked (not fried). I call my signature dish Chapli Meatloaf, because you guessed it, I use the entire contents of a Chapli Kebab mix used for kebabs. And it makes my meatloaf beautiful!

One kilo of beef mince

One brown onion

One clove of garlic (or one heaped tsp of crused garlic)

1 tbsp olive oil

2 and a half cups of bread crumbs

2 eggs

2 granny smith apples

2 tbs of tomato sauce

1 tbs of worcestershire sauce

one chapli kebab mix packet (I use Shan)

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C, and line a loaf tin with some baking paper. Cut enough baking paper so that you have at least 4cm "overhang" on either side. This will come in handy when you remove the meatloaf from the tin.

Cut and peel your onion into quarters then grate it using a cheese grater. I don't finely chop my onion, because I find that the onion "dissolves" better when I fry it. You also don't find big chunks of onion in your meatloaf this way.

Add oil to a hot pan and fry your onion and crushed garlic for about 5-10 minutes, until your onion is quite soft and tender. I like to burn caramelise my onion to a brown colour because it adds that bit more flavour to the meatloaf.

Once that's fried, put it to the side to cool.

Peel and core the apples then grate them and add them to a bowl. In the same bowl, add your fried onion/garlic mix, the breadcrumbs, eggs, kebab mix, tomato sauce and worcestershire sauce. Using your hands (like it or lump it, get your hands dirty), knead the mixture, until its, erm, evenly mixed. Once its evenly mixed at your mince meat (again, HANDS) and knead until the mixture is evenly combined. Press into the loaf tin and bake at around an hour. There is no need to cover the meatloaf (I prefer a brown crispy top myself) and you can test your meatloaf just like a cake. Using a sharp knife, insert straight down the middle of the meatloaf and remove. If it comes out clean, then you know its cooked. It will be firm to the touch too.

I prefer to serve meatloaf with mashed potato and roast pumpkin, and either tomato sauce or gravy on top.

Prep Time: 30 minutes; Cooking Time: One hour.