Pizza Loaf

Image via Wikipedia

I've been sick, and not feeling up to cooking the last few days. Stupid headcold! But I had some ground beef thawed out and it was getting to the point where I had to use it, or I was gonna lose it.

So, I decided to make a meat loaf. Now, usually, I make 'souper' meatloaf with Lipton Onion soup mix, but I have run out and won't have anymore until January when Mom comes back. I had switched to using Good Season's Italian seasoning mix, but that's all run out too. So, I looked around in the cupboard and fridge, and took stock of what I had on hand, and this is what I came up with.

Pizza Loaf!

1 kg (2lbs) ground beef
1 tbsp Nature's Seasonings
1 packet of saltines, pulverized to powder
1/2 small can of tomato sauce (I used roasted garlic flavor) - save other half for later
1 tsp garlic powder
1 egg
As much mozzarella cheese as you like.

I put all those ingredients except for the cheese together in a bowl and mixed until it was all incorporated.
Transfer half of the mixture to a casserole or baking dish and flatten it out.
Spoon a little of the remaining tomato sauce on and spread it around, like on a pizza dough.
Next, add a layer of mozzarella cheese. I used thin slices, because grating it just seemed like too much work today.
Spread the remainder of the meat mixture on top, flatten it out and press the seams together. This part was a little tricky, the sauce wanted to squirt out the sides. But I was prepared for that, and had made a little 'lip' around the edge of the bottom layer of meat, and flattened out the top layer as much as possible before laying it on top.

Cook it in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes covered, then take the top off for the last 5 minutes. (I covered it with tin foil at the start, because I used a 9x13 pan instead of my regular casserole) Serve topped with the rest of the tomato sauce.

*Note - picture is NOT my pizza loaf - just a generic meatloaf I found on Wiki. We ate ours up faster than I could find the camera!

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