Italian Sausage Meatloaf Sandwich

This simple recipe was devised from a rare flash of inspiration and ingredients I had on hand. I started out making a regular pasta dinner & got sidetracked after I had made the bread and thawed the meats. I used premade basil pesto & jarred onion-garlic marinara sauce to speed this dinner along. This could be easily changed to reflect what you have to use up. *Definitely a recipe for skinny, heart healthy folks! The rest of us can only lick our chops.

• Ready In: 1 hr 5 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• Meatloaf

• 1⁄2 lb hot Italian sausage, ground
• 1⁄2 lb ground beef
• 1⁄2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1  egg
• 1⁄3 cup  seasoned bread crumbs

• Bread

• 1  loaf  Italian bread (or similarly textured bread)

• Pesto

• 1⁄2 cup basil pesto

• Sauce

• 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 1⁄2 cups  pasta sauce, divided

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix meatloaf ingredients together (use your hands, it's easier).
3. Dump meat mixture into a baking dish and pat into shape and size to fit your bread.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven & cover with 1/2 cup pasta sauce. Return to oven & bake 20 minutes more.
5. Cut bread into thick slices -3/4-inch or so. Slather with pesto.
6. Slice hot meatloaf into 1/2-inch slices. (tricky but you can do it!) Place a slice on top of pesto.
7. Mix 1/2 cup pasta sauce with cheese & spread on top of meatloaf.
8. Put sandwiches under the broiler till bubbly & hot & bread is crispy on the edges.
9. Serve with the rest of the sauce, heated in the microwave for 30 seconds.
10. You will need a knife & fork!
11. * If you really want to go for the gusto, top sandwich with a slice of mozzarella or your favorite cheese before broiling.
12. Cooks note: As written, the number of servings is just a guess. Depends on the hollowness of the diners' legs. ;-).