Growing up in an Italian-American household in New Jersey, there was no question where you’d find Dina Deleasa-Gonsar on a Sunday evening. She’s seated at mom Angela’s table, with her fork and knife at the ready, prepared to dive into dinner. It might be crispy chicken cutlets. Or maybe macaroni. Or perhaps meatballs. But it was never, ever, anything made with jarred marinara sauce. (Gonsar admits she didn’t know this existed until college.) It was always mom’s “10-minute wonder” of a red sauce recipe, featuring fresh tomatoes, olive oil, garlic—and nothing else.
“On Sundays, I’m sure mom would have liked to take the day off, but she created and kept up with the tradition instead,” Gonsar says. When she did move out on her own for college, Gonsar went so far as making red sauce from scratch in her dorm to carry on that tradition and savor a taste of home. (“That smell of garlic hitting the oil always makes me feel calmer,” Gonsar tells BHG. “It melts away anxiety, and is just so comforting to me.”) Angela’s recipes were the first Gonsar mastered in her own kitchen once she had a full one herself. Mom’s recipes quickly became staples as a reminder of home and because “I think they are the workhorses of the everyday table,” she says.
The Family Recipe I Never Appreciated Until I Grew Up
That being said, Gonsar didn’t always relish every dish mom served her as a child: “Whenever it was meat loaf night, I certainly wasn’t excited.” We get it. Meat loaf is a dish that would rarely win a culinary beauty contest. Plus, the temperature and texture can be tough to nail. (If you resonate with any of those sentiments, don’t miss our Test Kitchen’s guide to how to make meat loaf moist and tender every time.) For these reasons—and since it’s hard to compete with the Italian-American restaurant-style recipes that also graced Angela’s Sunday table—meatloaf is one retro recipe that would have never ranked Gonsar’s top 10 as a kid, she admits.
Still, now that she’s married and a mom to 8-year-old Siena, Gonsar now laughs and thinks “you were right, Mom!” each time she brings her own rendition, Meat Loaf with Caramelized Onion Gravy, to the table. “I mostly stick to mom’s script, but made a few upgrades. I add a little cheese to the mix, plus drizzle the finished beef and pork bake with caramelized onion gravy. This is one of the most comforting dishes on my roster,” Gonsar says.
And her roster is robust. Inspired by her mom’s dedication to cooking, feeding, and gathering, Gonsar is now the recipe developer behind Dish It Girl. On Sundays and throughout the week, she now shares how to recreate her own family’s favorite meals like Spinach Stuffed Shells with Creamy Pink Sauce and Oven Baked Black Cod with Olives—plus remixes on Angela’s iconic recipes. “It’s powerful to look back and realize how much work my mom put in—and how much that impacted the rest of my life,” Gonsar says. “Serving dinners like this meat loaf to my mom and enjoying them with her is a whole other level!”
After witnessing her daughter follow in her culinary footsteps, and seeing a version of her own meat loaf recipe (below) appear in Dina’s cookbook At the Kitchen Sink, we couldn’t resist asking 70-year-old Angela to reflect on her ripple effect.
“It’s so rewarding to know that the food I shared with Dina growing up serves as inspiration beyond our dinner table. I had no idea it would take on such a life of its own with her,” Angela tells us, confirming that she doesn’t mind at all that Dina gives their family recipes her own special flourish. “She can do whatever she wants with my recipes, especially when she is cooking for me! It sure is nice that I am not cooking it for a change,” Angela laughs. “You never know what is making an impression on your kids, you are just praying that whatever it is it has them wanting to stay together and return home.”
Related: Our Most-Saved Retro Dishes Come Right from Grandma’s Recipe Box
Meat Loaf with Caramelized Onion Gravy
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
For the meat loaf:
1 medium Vidalia onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
3 medium carrots, finely chopped (about ¾ cup)
1 ¾ tsp. kosher salt, divided
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
1 lb. ground beef (85% fat)
¾ cup fancy shredded mild cheddar cheese
For the caramelized onion gravy:
2 Vidalia onions, sliced into ¼-inch half moons
½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more as needed
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Directions
Make the meat loaf: Preheat the oven to 400° F and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
In a medium-sized skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ¼ tsp. of the salt and the pepper, and continue sautéing until the carrots begin to soften and the onion is translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the white wine, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for 3 minutes; remove from heat and cool completely.
In a large bowl whisk the eggs, ketchup, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce until well combined. Add the panko, sautéed vegetable mixture, and remaining 1 ½ tsp. of salt and mix until well combined. Add the ground beef, ground pork and cheddar and, using your hands, mix to combine.
Form the meat mixture into 2 loaves on the prepared sheet pan, each about 9 inches long and 3 ½ inches wide.
Bake until lightly browned and a thermometer registers 160° F when inserted into the center of the loaves, about 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the gravy: In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions, stirring to coat in the butter, then cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the salt and sugar and stir to combine. Cook, stirring often, for 10 additional minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar, stir to coat, increase the heat to medium and sauté until the onions are deep golden brown, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the onions, stirring to coat and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth and stir to combine. Continue cooking, stirring often, until gravy is thickened, about 6 minutes. Add the heavy cream and rosemary, stir to combine, simmer for 4 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat. Remove the rosemary and discard; let the gravy cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
Carefully transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the pan and simmer for 5 additional minutes; season with salt, to taste.
Tent the meat loaf with aluminum foil and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice and serve immediately with the gravy.
Recipe from At the Kitchen Sink. Copyright © 2025 by Dina Deleasa-Gonsar. Published by Convergent Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens
Dining and Cooking