Cheese Stuffed Italian Meatloaf

Julesong's Note:

I wanted to make a different sort of meatloaf for dinner last night, and this is what I came up with. This meatloaf is moist and cheesy and oh-so-delicious! Tastes pretty darn good cold, too. :) I often make a double batch and freeze one in a disposable meatloaf pan to give to bachelor friends.

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

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 egg
• 1 cup seasoned dry bread crumb
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup of your favorite pasta sauce, homemade or in the jar
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 3/4 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 lb hot Italian sausage
• 1 cup cubed mozzarella cheese, in about 1/4 inch pieces
• additional pasta sauce, for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the egg, breadcrumbs (I whir herbed dry stuffing mix in my food processor to make these), garlic, and 1/2 cup pasta sauce until well-mixed.
3. Add remaining ingredients (except the garnish), and mix together well (I do the whole thing in my sturdy KitchenAid mixer, which works quite well).
4. Put into a large loaf pan, top/garnish with additional pasta sauce (I like a*lot* of sauce and so use about a half-cup, but three or four tablespoons would do, too), and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.
5. Serve with rice, spaghetti, or scalloped potatoes.

Reviews

[Chef #549059]

this was okay...i don't see what the fuss is about, somewhat bland in comparison to my own recipe. would not make again... :)

[TattooedMamaof2]

My husband and picky daughter really enjoyed this. I used ground turkey but thought this was kind of bland, and prefer regular meatloaf. Thanks though, it was still good!

[Meredith C-ville]

This was the most successful meatloaf I have ever made. I wouldn't say I could really tell there was cheese in it, but I think it helped the overall consistency. I made this with ground chicken, and didn't have sausage but had some leftover turkey pepperoni hanging around, which I threw in, and added oregano, basil, and fennel seed for a sausage-like flavor. I used a mushroom/olive tomato sauce from a jar. I had frozen it and remembered too late that it needed to thaw, so I started it in the oven on the early side. It cooked uncovered for a very long time and still came out moist and flavorful, so I would imagine it's pretty hard to mess up! I think I'll be sticking with this one. Thanks.