Italian Meatloaf, One Version

For my family meatloaf is sort of synonymous with "clean out the fridge". We'll pretty much try anything in it, and have never experienced something that doesn't work. So I say get crazy with your meatloaf. If you think you might want to add it, go for it. Once again, I'm not a measurer of spices. I just add them until I feel they look good. Another thing to do is to add things that are already seasoned, (like the pasta sauce in this one) just keep that in mind to adjust the saltiness when you're adding spices. Here's one that was a particular favorite.


Pepperoni Meatloaf


Approx 6 oz. Mozzarella cheese
1/4 lb of pepperoni
left over jar of pasta sauce
1 egg (a few spoons of sour cream can be used as an emulsifier if you want to leave this out, when we made this we were just out of eggs and it tasted great)
1 and 1/2 - 2lbs of ground beef. We usually use 90/10 or 95/5 depending
Salt
Italian herbs
Garlic powder
Italian bread crumbs (or left overs from a loaf of bread, torn up)
Pepper


Pre-heat oven to 350


Mix ground beef, spices, egg (or sour cream), and bread crumbs in a large bowl until well mixed.


Place half the mixture in a loaf pan


Spread thin layer of pepperoni, cheese, and sauce


Add other half of mixture on top


Add pepperoni, cheese, and sauce on top


Cover with foil


Bake for 1 hour or until heated throughout

Drain off any excess grease, this is optional, but I prefer to do so to cut some of the fat out of this






*Tips - I use the sauce on top, this keeps the cheese from melting.


The amounts of cheese, pepperoni, and sauce vary, because they're usually left overs from another recipe during the week. You can adjust this to pretty much any amount of these ingredients you have left, or you like. We like ours moderately cheesey, so we don't use a whole ton.


Sliced deli pepperoni works better than the packaged, because its easier to cut with a knife for serving.


To save money while shopping, have this recipe in the same week as a homemade pizza, or homemade pizza pockets. You can use the leftovers to make this, and save from having to buy ingredients for a whole different meal. (recipe for those to follow in a few days!)


You can add almost anything to this recipe you like thats in the fridge. Don't be afraid to experiment with your meatloaf.