Salisbury Steak

Growing up my mother referred to these as "hamburgers with gravy". Well, these have a hidden agenda .. veggies. My daughter is currently anti-onion. When you puree them into the sauce then suddenly "mmm, mom this is good" becomes the motto. Who needs to know? Certainly not Cate.

1 pd of ground beef
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1 egg
1 14.5 oz can of low sodium beef broth
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 onion, chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 clove of garlic minced (or 1 tsp pre-minced garlic)
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
A good pinch of pepper

In a saucepan, over medium heat, add the olive oil, onions, carrots, the garlic, and pinch of salt and pepper. Saute until softened, approximately 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and heat until fluid and melted into the vegetables. Next, add the beef broth and turn the heat up to high. When the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.

While the sauce simmers, in a large bowl, add the bread crumbs, salt, pepper and give them a good stir to combine. In a separate bowl, beat the egg.

Back to the sauce, taste it and adjust your seasoning if necessary. Remove the sauce from heat and using an immersion blender, a blender, or food processor, blend the sauce until smooth. Remove a 1/4 cup of sauce and set the remaining aside.

Slowly add the sauce to the egg, mixing to incorporate. Pour the egg mixture into the bread crumbs. Crumble the ground beef on top of the bread crumbs and mix to combine. Do not over mix, it will tighten the meat and your "steaks" will be tough. Let the mixture rest for 5 or so minutes. Go do something else (I wash up the dishes I've used so far, or peel potatoes). Separate into 6 oval patties. A trick I learned from Rachael Ray is to NOT make the center of the patty as thick as the sides. Then when the patty cooks it'll be the same thickness when it's done.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the patties and fry for 5 minutes on both sides, or until they are firm when you press on the center. Drain on a paper towel.

Pour off any grease that may be in the pan and add the sauce. Low the heat to low. Add the patties, flipping to coat them in the sauce. Cover the pan and simmer in the sauce for 5 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.