Meatloaf stuffed with ham and cheese and topped with tomato sauce is perfectly easy to make for friends and family. The technique is simple, but the possibilities are endless. Dress it up with prosciutto or salami instead of ham. Try it with pepperoni and pizza sauce. Out of mozzarella? Try fontina instead. But whenever you make this Stuffed Godfather Meatloaf, do yourself a favor and make this Cheesy Potato Casserole to serve alongside this cheese stuffed, ham stuffed, meatloaf masterpiece.
My mother found this recipe for Stuffed Godfather Meatloaf sometime in the mid ’80’s. I don’t remember exactly when it was, but I’ll never forget the first time this baby hit the table. A meatloaf that oozed cheese, and was stuffed with ham made a lasting impression on me. This was the first recipe I ever made in my first apartment when I became a young bachelor. It fed me for 3 days, and I’ve been making it ever since. It was the first thing I cooked for my wife, before she was my wife. And now I make it for my kids. And, occasionally for that one guy at work who loves to brag about how good his meatloaf is. Put your meatloaf where your mouth is, pal. Let me introduce you to the Godfather.
The technique is dead simple. Once you have combined your ingredients for the meatloaf, you’re gonna lay out some wax paper about 3 feet long. Then you put your meatloaf mixture on the wax paper (covering about 2/3 of the wax paper, leaving one side as a landing pad) and press it out into a sheet about 12 inches wide by 24 inches long. Don’t measure, just make a rectangle. It should be about an inch thick. Then on top of that, layer your ham, and then your cheese on top of that. Grab the short side of the wax paper and roll towards your “landing pad”. Try to keep it tight, like a Swiss Roll. Crimp the ends together and transfer to a roasting pan or sheet tray, seam side down, removing the wax paper before sliding that sucker in the oven. Now go and make your Cheesy Potatoes. You’ll thank me later.
Mom used to top her Stuffed Godfather Meatloaf with sliced provolone cheese for the last 15 minutes of baking, but I always top mine with the leftover 1/2 can of tomato sauce and some more shredded mozzarella. But no matter what you top it with, the Stuffed Godfather Meatloaf always gets respect.
– Blaine
Ingredients
- 2 lbs lean Ground Beef
- 2 Eggs beaten
- 1 cup Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
- 1 4 oz. can Tomato Sauce 1/2 reserved
- 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1 package Onion Soup Mix
- 1/4 cup Evaporated Milk
- 1 tsp Salt
- 3 tsp Pepper
- 4-6 slices Ham
- 2 cups shredded Mozzarella 1/4 cup reserved
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine first 9 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well by hand.
- Turn mixture out onto a 3 feet long double layer of wax paper,spreading into a 12" X 24" rectangle about an inch thick, leaving 1/3 of the wax paper exposed.
- Top the meatloaf mixture with the ham slices, leaving a border of about an inch all the way round. Now top the ham with the mozzarella and roll towards the exposed wax paper to form your loaf.
- Pinch the ends together, and place seam side down in a pan suitable for baking.
- Place in oven for 45 minutes.
- Top with remaining 1/2 can tomato sauce and 1/4 cup mozzarella. Return to oven for 15 minutes.Let rest for 10 minutes prior to slicing and serving.Enjoy!
Nutrition
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[…] and substituted mozzarella instead, and I found that I liked it better, especially when paired with Godfather Meatloaf. (And I always make these with Godfather Meatloaf.) We ran out of parsley […]