cheesy meatloaf with bacon and herbs

​I love kitchen gadgets and different kinds of cooking tools. For example, one summer sale at Williams-Sonoma,  I purchased a small grill top smoker. I used it only once this summer. I'll blame the 90 degree plus days as the reason I didn't use it as much. Another gizmo I purchased was a steel grill meat loaf pan. I believe my husband talked me into this one. It has an exterior pan with an open bottom and an insert that is perforated metal. Thank goodness I have a small kitchen and limited storage, otherwise I would have even more gadgets!

​On this inside of the paper wrapper of the grill pan was a recipe for Cheesy Meat Loaf with Bacon and Herbs. As the weather is cooling off, I thought this recipe would be a good idea for supper tonight. Besides the bacon, what sets this meat loaf apart from others is a vegetable mixture of cooked and diced celery, carrots and onion. Added to the mixture are fresh herbs of parsley and thyme. Instead of American cheese as a topper, it's mozzarella. The recipe does take time to prepare, 30 minutes and cooking time on the outdoor gas grill is one hour, ten minutes. 

I must say although I  read the recipe, I missed a few steps. Instead of placing the cheese breadcrumb mixture on top of the meat loaf as it cooks, I added to the meat mixture. I had just over two pounds of ground beef, so I should be okay. There was one other minor misstep, but I quickly fixed it (I forgot to add the vegetable mixture to the meat before placing it on the grill). I also forgot to defrost the bacon.If there is leftover meat loaf, my husband loves a cold meat loaf sandwich with ketchup.