A meatloaf is a great way to make mince go further as you can add in lentils or other grains and no-one will ever notice, especially once all the spices are added and the finished dish is glazed.

Ingredients

• ½ cup red lentils
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 500 grams lean beef mince
• ¼ cup prepared Moroccan spice paste
• ¼ cup chopped dried apricots, optional
• 1 egg. lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt

Chilli apricot glaze

• 410 gram can apricot halves
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely diced
• ¼ cup apricot jam or savoury sauce

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Cook the lentils in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain well and cool. Pan-fry the onion and garlic in a dash of oil until tender; cool.
3. Mix the lentils and onion mixture with the beef mince, spice paste, apricots, if using, and egg and salt well. Mould into a meatloaf shape and place in a large ovenproof lasagne-style dish.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. While cooking, simmer all the glaze ingredients together until the syrup has reduced by half. Remove the meat loaf from the oven, pour over the glaze and return the meatloaf to the oven for a further 20-25 minutes. Rest 5 minutes before carving.