The second Monday of the month has arrived and it's time for the Secret Recipe Club again! This month I was assigned to An Affair from the Heart, which is written by Michaela.
Michaela is a stay at home mom, although her oldest is now in college and her youngest twins are teenagers now she still manages for those at home to sit down to dinner together, electronics excluded. One of the things we share in common is a love of entertaining. Small parties, big parties, and especially themed parties, we're both in our element. I immediately knew I wanted to choose a recipe that would be bite-sized or individual and Michaela's list of recipes definitely didn't disappoint with a variety of options.
Also, check out the cool story as to how she named her blog.
I narrowed down my choices to three recipes, pizza meatloaf minis, bacon cheeseburger meatballs and broccoli stuffed mushrooms. Unable to decide, I showed Tom all three recipes and asked him to pick one. He wanted to know if I could change up the recipe at all. I said yes and he decided on the pizza meatloaf minis but said he wanted me to make them explode with pizza flavor.
Meatloaf. Pizza. Explode.
I don't know where your brain might have went with that, but mine immediately went to stuffing the meatloaf with cheese.
Pizza Meatloaf Minis
Source: An Affair from the Heart
Servings: 12 mini loaves
Printer Friendly
Ingredients:
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- 1 tablespoon olive oil
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- ½ small onion, diced
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- 2 garlic cloves, minced
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- 1 ½ lbs extra lean ground beef
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- 1 egg, beaten
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- ¼ cup oatmeal
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- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
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- 1 tablespoon oregano, dried
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- 1 tablespoon basil, dried
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- 1 tablespoon parsley, dried
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- 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
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- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
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- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
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- 1 teaspoon black pepper
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- 12 fresh mozzarella balls
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- ½ cup pizza sauce
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- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
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- optional: pepperoni slices
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Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cupcake pan with non-stick spray or use heavy-duty cupcake liners.
2. Add olive oil to a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and cook for 3-5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
3. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, egg, oatmeal, worcestershire sauce, oregano, basil, parsley, Parmesan, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Add the cooked onions and stir until combined.
4. Use an ice cream scoop to gather a ball of the meat mixture. Use your thumb to press an indent into the center. Place the mozzarella ball within (If you can’t find mozzarella balls, use fresh mozzarella cut into chunks) and form the meat into a ball around the cheese, sealing up the edges.
5. Repeat with remaining meat mixture and place each mini loaf into the prepared baking pan.
6. Top each mini loaf with a heaping teaspoon of pizza sauce. Bake for 20 minutes or until browned.
7. Remove from the oven and set the oven to broil. Add a heaping pinch of the shredded mozzarella cheese on top of each mini loaf and add optional pepperoni as well. Broil for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the pepperoni is crisp.
8. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
I served these with mashed potatoes and a salad. Tom thought they were absolutely amazing and we both agreed that pumping up the pizza flavor was a great choice. I froze the leftovers and I'm sure we'll have them in the near future.
Comments
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Anonymous
pizza. meatloaf. explode... looks like you nailed it on all 3!
GREAT SRC choice indeed!
Michaela Kenkel
Nichole- I LOVE the addition of the mozzarella in the middle!! Great idea!! Happy that you liked them! Thanks for the sweet words! 🙂
Jeanie
Those look delicious and sound delicious. And I love the idea of putting them in little muffin tins.
Julie
I just made a mestloaf for tomorrow night, I may be changing it up a bit to this recipe. Happy reveal day.
Wendy Klik
These are the perfect little bites and would work great at a game day party.
Linda@2CookinMamas
What a fabulous idea! You had me at pizza & meatloaf. I've made mini meatloaves but stuffing them with cheese was brilliant! Love this idea for a party or for a fun dinner at home with the little ones.
Amy CookingAdventures
Oh wow - my family would love these! Great SRC choice!