Chili Meat Loaf - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 sweet Italian sausages
2 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
1 c. drained red kidney beans
1/2 c. coarsely grated yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. Dijon style mustard
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 c. sweet red peppers, small diced
2 c. coarsely grated sharp Cheddar cheese
2 c. chopped pitted black olives
1 c. coarsely chopped parsley
1/3 lb. bacon strips

Preparation

Prick sausages with fork; put in skillet.
Cover with water; bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.
Drain; discard water. Return sausages to skillet; brown slightly.
Preheat oven to 350\u00b0.
In large bowl, combine beef, pork, beans, onion, garlic, mustard, eggs, tomato paste, scallions, chili powder, salt, pepper, cumin and oregano; mix.
Spread meat loaf mixture on a 20-inch square piece of waxed paper (12 x 15-inch rectangle loaf). Spread red peppers over surface.
Cover peppers with grated cheese.
Add olives, then the parsley.
Pat all into place.
Place sausages in a line along the long length of meat loaf mixture. Roll like a jelly roll.
Place in shallow baking pan, seam down. Lay bacon strips crosswise over the loaf.
Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes (until bacon is browned).
Remove to platter.
Let rest 15 minutes before slicing.
Serves 10 to 12.