Cheese Stuffed Italian Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 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. 1

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. 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. 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. 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. 5

   Serve with rice, spaghetti, or scalloped potatoes.