I don’t know how obvious this may be, but I watch a lot of cooking shows!  Over the years I have tried all kinds of meatloaf recipes with sauces on top, carrots or veggies inside, fancy seasonings, etc.  After all my experimentation, this basic recipe is what the people want (my people) so is what I stick to!  I especially like a nice salty crusty surface, so I put the cheese in the middle and the tomato flavor inside the meat and keep the outside alone and season it.

Ingredients:

1 large shallot (2 medium or 3 small – size varies greatly) diced

1/2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 pounds of meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and veal)

1 large egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs (I use plain Progresso crumbs)

Tip:  I always keep my open breadcrumbs in the freezer to keep them from going stale.

1 tsp garlic salt

2 grinds of fresh pepper

2 tbsp ketchup

Secret:  An old friend of mine Trish taught me this one years ago, ketchup really adds some nice background flavor in the finished meat loaf without anyone knowing you added it.

1 tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped (really just for color)

3 or 4 thin slices of Swiss cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, or any of your favorites will work)

Salt and pepper to taste

Clean and chop the shallots while the butter is melting in a small pan (I dice them very small since my picky eaters don’t want to “see” the onions in anything).   Put the shallots in the melted butter on med-high heat and salt them.  Cook for 2 minutes, or until softened but not yet browned.  Cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put the meat, egg, bread crumbs, garlic salt, pepper and parsley in a large bowl.  Add the cooled shallots.  Mix with your clean hands, get in there  and mush it together.  No spoon or spatula works as well as your hands for this job.  Make 2 meatloafs so they cook more quickly!  Here’s how to make 2 cheesey loafs (6″ X 4″ loaf pans work well):

Take the meat and separate into 4 similar balls of meat.  Put one bowl into each meatloaf dish as a flat half meatloaf, then layer some cheese (not too much) on top.  Create a top to each bottom section, pick it up in your hand and pinch the two sides together all the way around.  Smooth into a loaf shape.

Below on the left is the bottom and cheese only, the one on the right is completed into a loaf, seasoned with salt and pepper and ready to go into the oven.

 

Put loafs in the middle rack of the oven.  Check for doneness at 30 minutes, then every 5 minutes until complete.  I know it is done when the entire surface of the loaf is sizzling, that sound tells me the meat is cooked all the way through.  Took me with two loafs 42 minutes until it was sizzling and ready for the table.

Best with peas and mashed or french fries and carrots, or pump up the nutrition with a salad or fruit salad