Awesome and Simple Italian Garlicky Meatloaf

MommyMakes's Note:

This meat loaf is so flavorful, but doesn't require endless ingredients! It is simple and soooo good. I almost always have the ingredients on hand straight from the pantry. My family loves it, it tastes even better leftover, and it makes the house smell delicious! Can be frozen for OAMC. I have adjusted the breadcrumbs per the reviews, the key is to use only as much as you need to make a moist dough. If your ground beef is very low in fat, like sirloin, you will need fewer breadcrumbs, however higher fat beef, like chuck, will absorb a larger amount of breadcrumbs.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6

Yield: 1.0 loaf

• ½-1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 5 tablespoons grated dry parmesan cheese (Romano is a good choice, also)
• 5 tablespoons minced parsley (I use dried to save effort)
• 2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 2 lbs ground beef (not too lean)
• 2 eggs
• ketchup , to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a large loaf pan.
2. Mix 1/2 cup bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper, reserving the remaining bread crumbs to use as necessary.
3. Add the meat and use a fork to mix the ingredients uniformly.
4. Add the eggs and knead it with your hands until a "dough" ball forms, it should hold its shape and not be too dry and crumbly (add some water) or too sticky sloppy (add more bread crumbs).
5. Mold the meat mixture into the loaf pan and top with a layer of ketchup as desired.
6. Bake for 70 minutes. Slices best when cooled and tastes even better reheated as leftovers!
7. For OAMC: Slice cooled loaf and flash freeze slices on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, store in a freezer bag or container. To reheat: remove as many slices as necessary and reheat in microwave.

Reviews

[Lnz]

I have made this meatloaf several times now, and we just love it. I generally do not even like meatloaf, but my Hubbs does, so I decided to give this one a try. It is wonderful! Thank you for a great addition to my recipe file!!

[cynn0r]

I loved the flavorful, simplicity of this recipe. I make meatloaf time after time and it was so nice to change it up. The aroma of this cooking is delish! Thanks MommyMakes. Great recipe!

[Kerry G]

This title of this recipe pretty much says it all! We used ground turkey instead of beef and chili sauce instead of ketchup, and halved the recipe (there's only 2 of us). Other than those changes, I followed the recipe exactly. It was delicious right out of the over, but it DOES get better over time (had the leftovers for lunch today!). With my changes, I calculated this recipe to 3 WW points/serving with 8 servings. Thanks for sharing, we will definitely be making this again!