Ingredients:
About three pounds of the leanest beef you can get
One and one-half cups Italian-flavored bread crumbs
Two 16-ounce cans of Del Monte tomato sauce
Onion powder and garlic powder
Optional: teaspoon of dried basil
In bowl, mix bread crumbs and 8 ounces
of sauce. Add onion powder and garlic powder. Break up beef into chunks and add. Add
another eight ounces of sauce. Optional: grind basil between palms and add. Mix with
hands. Make sure all meat is moist. Divide in half, put on cutting board, keep mushing.
Then shape into flat (no more than 2") meat loaf. Repeat with other half.
Spray bottom of baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Put
loaves side by side (with small space between) onto pan. Cover top of loaves with
additional sauce. Sprinkle more onion powder and garlic powder on top. With tines of fork,
make lines on top and sides. Add a small amount of water (1/8" high) to bottom
of pan.
Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about one hour. Check in middle
for done-ness given oven variations.
Gravy: Place small amount of olive oil in pan. Sprinkle onion
powder and garlic powder. Heat until powder light brown. Add remaining eight or so ounces
of tomato sauce, plus one ounce water. Optional: add small amount of basil as above. Cook
until boiling, then lower flame and cover for 15 minutes.
