A Cupcake-Shaped Meatloaf-Pasta Mash-Up? Yes, Please

As winter lingers — and lingers — way past the moment when many of us are ready for spring, you may find yourself turning to your favorite comfort foods for consolation. But you may not have tried turning to them all at once.
That’s where The Meatloaf Bakery, a Chicago purveyor of savory cupcake-shaped meatloaves, comes in. Among its many curious meatloaf offerings (a spicy-chicken-wing-inspired meatloaf and a salmon-based loaf topped with wasabi mashed potatoes and lemon-dill yogurt sauce, just to name two), you’ll find a genius pasta-meatloaf mash-up appropriately called the Loaf-a-Roma. The base combines beef and Italian sausage meatloaf with melted mozzarella cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and a touch of red wine, and it’s topped with a tangle of angel hair pasta and marinara sauce.
The loaf has been featured on Cooking Channel’s Food(ography), and The Meatloaf Bakery’s meatloaf maven Cynthia Kallile has helpfully provided the recipe here.