Vegetating mini meatloaves

How's this for a school night meal idea?
These little meatloaves will cook quickly (no need to wait and hour for a large loaf to cook through), are tasty, and have vegetables hidden in them.
There are no school children in my household, just grown-ups with sometimes simple tastes and foibles ("urgh, but I don't like beetroot...", "oh, not salad again, why can't we have sausages?").
This is a great compromise that can be dressed up to give the impression of sophistication - just add a perfect spinach leaf and a dish of sauce on the side. And if there are any leftovers, pop them in the lunchbox the next day.

Mini Meatloaves

serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 small carrots, peeled

• 1 small zucchini
• 500g lean beef mince
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (fresh or dried)
• 1/2 small brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• tomato sauce, to serve


Method
1. Preheat oven to 210°C.
2. Coarsely grate the carrots and zucchini. Use your hands to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Place the carrot and zucchini in a large bowl. Add the beef mince, breadcrumbs, onion, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and egg, and mix until well combined.
3. Lightly grease (with olive oil spray) a 12-hole medium (1/2 cup) muffin pan.  Divide the mixture evenly among the muffin pans, pressing it firmly into each pan and smoothing the tops.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden on top and cooked through. Remove from the pans and serve with some salad (if you're brave) and tomato sauce.

• To freeze, wrap each cooked meatloaf in plastic wrap, seal in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, unwrap the frozen meatloaves and place on a baking tray in an oven preheated to 180°C for 18 minutes or until heated through.

Recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients, including a flavoursome dash of Worcestershire sauce

Even if you have someone with childish tastes, it's no reason to be juvenile in food presentation - serve the meatloaves with grownup grissini sticks and artfully arranged spinach leaves

And lots of tomato sauce, of course.