Baked Bloody Rats

Halloween is a big favorite in our house. I'm pretty sure its up there with Christmas, if not even more - from the decorations, to the dressing up, to the trick or treating and gobs of sugar consumed, to the pranks, and now the newest addition of Halloween cooking.  I hunted around for some good ideas this season and came up with a handful of things that were fun and easy to make and some even a little gross looking, like these baked bloody rats. Plain and simple, they are meatloaf balls stuffed with gooey melted cheese and covered in spaghetti sauce. Baked and served on a bed of mashed potatoes, they were absolutely delicious despite the ewwwww's I got when I set the plates down at the table. Success!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Rats ~

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt and pepper or preferred meatloaf spices.
• 1/4 c onion, minced
• 1 egg
• Cubed mozzarella cheese

Sauce~

• 1 Jar of Prego or whatever spaghetti sauce you like.

Decorations~

• Carrots
• Dry Spaghetti Noodles
• Raisins

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix ground beef, chopped onions, bread crumbs, egg, and seasonings.

Take out a palms worth of meat mixture (about 1/3 cup) and roll it into a ball.

Press it out somewhat flat and add about 3 blocks of the cheese in the center. 

Mold the meat around the cheese and shape it out to a point - like a rats body. 

Place your rats in a baking pan or sheet and  then add spaghetti sticks in the rear for the tail.  The noodle will cook just fine when you bake these suckers.

Pour the Prego sauce over the rats to completely cover them.  Its ok if you get sauce on the tail.

Cover the entire thing with aluminum foil and bake for about 45 minutes.

Now take the aluminum off and you will have what looks like a total mess. The cheese may have oozed out too.

Bake for another 20 minutes, uncovered. Scooping the sauce around the rats, spoon it over them from time to 

time so that it glazes a little.

                                                                                                         

To decorate your rat, simple circle cuts of carrots will serve as the ears. You don't have to cook them, although if you insist, you could steam them. I'm too lazy to bother. Make two slits in the rats head and press the carrots in there.

For the eyes, I just grabbed a couple raisins, and then for the whiskers I broke off six pieces of dry spaghetti noodles and stuck them in the face. 

Place your rats on a bed of mashed potatoes or spaghetti noodles and pour some of the sauce around it to give it a bloody trail. How cool are these?!!