The finest crunch ever is made with this recipe, which was handed down through my MIL’s family. Serve either with whipped cream or ice cream. I’ve left the instructions exactly as she handed them to me because it gives the recipe some personality!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 mini meatloaves |
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons purchased basil pesto
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 pound 90% lean ground beef
- ⅓ cup Italian-seasoned panko bread crumbs
- 8 slices pepperoni
- 2 ounces small fresh mozzarella balls (such as BelGioioso®)
- ½ cup marinara sauce, warmed
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, or to taste (Optional)
Instructions
- Combine milk, pesto, egg, garlic, and pepper in a medium bowl. Add ground beef and bread crumbs and combine, being careful not to overmix.
- Divide meat mixture into 4 portions. Press a well into each portion, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. Place 2 slices pepperoni into each well, overlapping to cover the length of the well. Top each with 1/4 of the mozzarella balls. Press meat mixture around the filling to enclose; form each portion into an oblong loaf shape. Place loaves into the air fryer basket, in batches.
- Cook in the air fryer at 370 degrees F (190 degrees C) until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the meat reads 165 degrees F (75 degrees C), about 15 minutes. Serve meatloaves topped with warm marinara sauce and fresh basil.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 336 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 13 g |
| Cholesterol | 135 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 34 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 411 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Absolutely delicious!
I’ve made this dish three times now. The first time I did it exactly as written. It was really good. I’m not much of a cook, so I was pleased to have a meal that felt like I knew what I was doing. The only problem I had was that the pepperoni just pulls the mozzarella straight out when you try to cut it with a fork. The pepperoni got sort of lost in the flavors anyway (this dish is very pesto-forward), so the next time I left it out, and it was still great. The last time, I swapped regular pepperoni for those thicker mini pepperonis, and just added a few to each loaf’s center. This was really good! Easier to eat, and I could still taste the pepperoni. This is now one of my standard recipes.