Italian Sausage Metloaf with Potato Gravy, originally uploaded by balyho0o.

So I was totally craving something  hearty like meatloaf and mashed potatoes so I surfed around the web and took my inspiration from a couple of different recipes which use Italian Sausage to help bring things to life. This one from allrecipes.com had some good ratings and some helpful comments and this one was the catalyst for the blue cheese, which was fantastic.

Sadly the potatoes were meant to be something like this but because I used baby reds, which don’t quite stand up the way a Russet or Gold might, what I ended up with was more of a potato gravy. ..and it was so damn good! I just love it when accidents turn in to amazing discoveries. It was a bit “gluey” but was oh so rich and yummy. Really hit the spot.

Meatloaf Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pounds ground beef
• 4 (4 ounce) links Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 a red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 4 oz blue cheese crumbles
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tbs fresh chopped basil
• 1 tbs fresh chopped oregano
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste

“Gravy” Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of baby red potatoes (Don’t you dare peel these!)
• 1 tbs fresh rosemary
• 1 1/2 tbs Kosher salt
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 tbs fresh ground pepper

Meatloaf Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. In a large bowl combine beef, decaseified sausage, egg , bell pepper, onion, oats, milk, blue cheese, Worcestershire sauce, herbs,  salt and pepper. Mix together, preferably with your hands (feel that squishy goodness!), and press into a loaf pan line with aluminum foil.
3. Add a nice thick layer of tomato paste to the top as if you were frosting a cake.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until center temp reads about 145° (should continue to rise to about 155° while resting). Let stand about 10 minutes and use the foil to lift out and drain grease.

“Gravy” Directions:

1. Buy the wrong type of potatoes for the “Mashed” varietal. In this case baby reds
2. Cut larger taters in half, and add them, 1tbs salt, garlic and rosemary to boiling water and boil until soft
3. Drain and drop contents into a food processor making sure to get the garlic and rosemary bits. Add butter, pepper and remaining salt and puree the crap out of it. Add a little milk if it isn’t “gravy like” enough for you.

Provide a nice “base” of gravy, add a slab or two of the meatloaf and drizzle with more gravy goodness. I DARE you not to go back for seconds!