Let's have meatloaf tonight!

I enjoy perusing for new recipes to add to my repertoire, but the ones that actually tickle my fancy are few and far between. I got a new cookbook for Christmas from my dear grandmother, and my sister challenged that I should make every recipe in the book and blog about it. I was going to do it, but found many of the recipes to be unappealing, so maybe I'll just share some of the ones that are actually good.
Earlier this week, I made my first recipe from the new cookbook. It was cheeseburger soup and it did not pass the "husband approval" test. I should have known better, really. I mean, it does sound kinda gross, but the ingredients and picture looked good, so I gave it a shot. I thought it was alright when eaten right away, but as left-overs it failed. In fact, it is still sitting in the fridge. So, after that failure, I was a bit discouraged about the future success of any further cooking from the new cookbook. But, last night I gave it another shot and the results were quite tasty.
Meatloaf....It has taken me a number of years to even be able to stomach the IDEA of meatloaf. Meatloaf, to me, conjures images of mushy meat covered in a sticky ketchup mess. Mmmmm, who wouldn't find that irresistible? Well, me, for one. But, a few years ago, I found a recipe for Marvelous Mini Meatloaves, which Paul and I did find to be quite marvelous. Thus began my affection for meatloaf. Last night I found a new meatloaf recipe that will be a keeper for our house. This ain't my mama's meatloaf! I found the flavor to be quite good; can you really go wrong with pasta sauce and cheese? The only thing I found to be slightly off-putting was the texture. It was a bit....moist, I suppose; so moist, in fact, that I found myself questioning whether or not it was actually cooked. I would prefer it to be drier, but because the taste is so pleasant, I can get over it. I told Natey it was pizza and he ate 3/4 of one:-).

Mini Meat Loaves

1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup purchased pasta sauce
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped if large
1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1- Heat oven to 450.
2- Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine egg, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, bread crumbs, 2 tablespoons of basil, and 1/4 tsp salt. Add beef and 1/2 cup of the cheese; mix well. Divide beef mixture in four equal portions. Shape each portion in a 5 1/2x2-inch oval. Place on 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Spoon on remaining pasta sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes or until internal temp registers 160.