Your house will smell like an Italian restaurant with this recipe! We love it and it's my own creation all because no one liked basic meatloaf recipes.
Italiano Meatloaf
yield: 5 mini loaves
1 lb. of ground beef
1 egg
1 tsp. Liquid Smoke
1/4 c. Quick Cooking Oats
1/2 c. Italian Garden Pasta Sauce
4 Tb. minced onion
1/2 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. Oregano
1/2 tsp. celery seeds
1/2 tsp. paprika
pinch of crushed red pepper
1 tsp. dried parsley
For the tops:
Set aside extra sauce and extra sprinklings of Oregano, Italian Seasoning and Parsley
1) In a large bowl, mix egg, oatmeal and liquid smoke together. Add pasta sauce and mix well. Mix dry spices together and add to mixture. Add ground beef and mix well.
2) In an ungreased 9 in. pie plate, shape meat loaf into 5 oval boat shapes placing in the dish with ends touching in the middle (looks like a star). Make a slight impression in the center of each and spoon 1 tsp. of Italian Garden Pasta sauce over the tops of each one. Sprinkle tops with Italian Seasoning, Oregano and mostly parsley to cover. Bake uncovered in a preheated oven @ 350-375 degrees for 40 min.
** It's always moist and because they're small, dinner is ready quicker. Grated Parmesan cheese can be added to the middle of the meatloaf and final sprinkling on top if desired. We always omit the salt and I usually never measure ingredients so these are estimates on the spices. Adjust to your taste. Have done these in the crock pot and the presentation is always appealing and they turn out well. Bon appetit Italiano, as we call it! :D