1-1 1/2 lbs hamburger
1 16 oz jar chunky spaghetti sauce
2 eggs
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 package (16 oz) Mozzarella or Italian blend shredded cheese
Preheat oven to 350f
In a mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add bread crumbs and 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce. Mix thoroughly. Add meat to mixture and combine.
Lay out a long piece of cling wrap, foil, or wax paper. On one end, place your loaf pan. Use this as a guide and roll out the meat mixture into a thin layer (max thickness of 1/2") that's as wide as the pan is long.
Spread 1 cup of sauce on top of the meat, leaving about an inch at the furthest edge (on the side that is as wide as the pan) clear of sauce. Sprinkle 3/4 of the bag of cheese on top of the sauce. Roll up the meat like a swiss roll, starting at the sauced end and ending at the empty end of the meat. Pinch the end closed, and place in loaf pan sealed side down.
Bake for roughly 1 hour, checking for doneness. (Your mileage may vary, depending on your oven.)
When no longer pink in the center, remove from the oven, and spread the last 1/2 cup of sauce on top, followed by the last 1/4 of the package of cheese. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Serve with plain pasta (little to no sauce) and maybe broccoli or the "Florentine blend" of steamed vegetables.
Note from daughter: My mom looks at me funny and blatantly says "No." when I offer to make this for her. She has never eaten it, but she says it sounds too weird for her. Honestly, it tastes like if a meatloaf and a meatball stuffed full of cheese had a food baby.
Since my immediate family won't eat it, I have references of a sort from friends, former significant others, and coworkers. My former roommates and an ex boyfriend would beg me to make this, and didn't understand why I didn't make it more often. A former coworker paid me $20 per meatloaf I made for him (maybe once a month) because, despite only having 5 ingredients, he insisted that I made it better than he ever could. Another coworker asked for the recipe, and reported that it passed the finicky toddler test. I figure if a 4 year old who won't eat anything but chicken nuggets wants more, it's got to be good.