Moroccan-Inspired Meatloaf with Heart is a gift from Mary Ruddick. She mentioned in our conversation last month that she loved making Moroccan-spiced Meatloaf and adding heart, one of her favorite cuts. I never did get a recipe from her, but I knew I had to create one. I read several and looked for themes. This was my take and it came out beautifully. I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we did!
Mary, Queen of Hearts
During our conversation, I asked Mary about her handle on Instagram (@maryqueenofhearts) and she mentioned that she loved heart. She told me that for many of her clients, the mitochondria and energy production is struggling and heart is really good for providing energy on a cellular level.
Mary went on to tell me how she loved the symbolism behind heart as well. She noted how we are often called on to ‘fight’ our illnesses, but that we don’t heal through fighting. If you see an illness as a call for help, it calls for something more like the softening and presence that we can find through love. (Watch the interview here.)
When I asked her how she liked to eat heart, she mentioned to me a Moroccan Meatloaf that she had adapted with a 50/50 blend of ground heart and ground meat. I couldn’t find the recipe she referenced, but it sounded so good that I had to create one!
A double batch, I might have snitched some raw…
She also said she like beef heart cubed and grilled, sometimes serving this style of preparation with a chimichurri sauce. Yum!
Moroccan-Inspired Meatloaf with Heart
Most of the Moroccan-inspired Meatloaf recipes online used abundant spices and herbs. Many of these recipes called for variations on ketchup or tomato-based sauces, such as adding pomegranate molasses. Ultimately, I was inspired by the yogurt sauce I saw in a NY Times version.
And of course, none of the recipes I saw included heart – aka the secret sauce here. I might be partial, but the mitochondria-friendly, energy-boosting, honor-the-animal version was better than anything I’ve seen so far. 😉 I served the Moroccan-inspired Meatloaf with Heart alongside feta salad and tallow-fried sweet potatoes.
Lamb hearts are perfect here, but if I had a large beef heart I would have used all of it and decreased the ground muscle meat. I don’t think that anyone would notice with the robust flavor profile. Or, consider a double batch for leftovers – it was worth it!
Moroccan-Inspired Meatloaf with Heart
Ingredients
For the meatloaf
- 1 lb (lamb) heart, ground
- 2 lb ground red meat (lamb or beef)
- 2 eggs, whisked well
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery sticks, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3" thumb ginger, (grated or) minced
- 1 t allspice
- 2 T cumin
- 2 T smoked paprika
- 1 T cinnamon
- 1 T coriander
- 3 t salt
- 7 oz (1 jar) tomato paste
- 1 head cilantro, chopped
- 1 head parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup mint, chopped
For the sauce
- 1 cup Greek-style yogurt
- 3 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- For the meatloaf, combine all ingredients (reserving some of the green herbs for garnish). Mix well with clean hands until satisfactorily blended.
- Place the mixture in a 9x5 baking pan and place this baking pan into a larger pan to provide a water bath for cooking. Fill the larger pan halfway with warm water and place all together into preheated oven.
- Cook for 75-100 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 140F. Remove the pans from the oven and then carefully remove the baking pan from the water bath. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare yogurt sauce by combining yogurt, lemon juice and pine nuts. Serve warm or cool. Garnish with yogurt sauce and reserved chopped herbs.
I love heart! Is there a way to omit the the eggs? Or just use the yolks? I love your blog 💛 stay blessed!
Hi Sara,
Yes, you can definitely omit the eggs – they serve as a binder to help keep the meatloaf together when slicing after it’s cooked. (Just using yolks can work too!) You don’t need a binder at all, but other options include breadcrumbs soaked in milk, or if you are on a farm, you can even use blood as a binder!
Hi! Can I use chicken hearts instead? I don’t have access to beef heart at the moment. Thanks! Looks great!
Hi Gianny,
Absolutely! If I were going to use chicken hearts, I wouldn’t even bother to trim any tubules, I would just chop or blend all of it and mix into the ground meat with the spices. Chicken hearts are also super high in CoQ10, all the B-vitamins, minerals – a great choice! Enjoy!