Not Your Momma's Meatloaf

“Meatloaf has a PR problem.” - Deb Perelman

Comfort food at its best!

I admit it! I have always enjoyed meatloaf. It's one of those dishes that as I became more comfortable in the kitchen I realized you really couldn't mess up. You can change up the herbs and spices. You can top it with different sauces--sweet, savory or spicey. You can even use a variety of ground meats--beef & pork were always my "go-to" for meatloaf.

However, I never used ground turkey. But then, a friend introduced me to Deb Perelman and her cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers. I highly recommend adding this to your cookbook collection. Inside this cookbook is a recipe for turkey meatloaf. It is delicious! It tastes just as great the next day served cold on a sandwich.

This takes a little time to prepare, about 25 minutes for me to do the prep. And the bake time will be 30 to 35 minutes. It's worth every minute!

I like to serve this with either baked macaroni and cheese or mashed potatoes. I throw in a tossed salad so we eat our healthy vegetables too.

Turkey Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, smashed (I use about a 1/4 tsp of garlic powder if I don't have garlic cloves)

1 slim carrot, roughly chopped (I use 6 to 8 baby carrots--about 1/2 cup chopped or 1/2 cup of chopped celery)

Salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 cup of panko style bread crumbs

1/4 cup of chicken broth

1/2 Tblsp tomato paste

1 tsp Dijon mustard ( I use spicey brown mustard sometimes.)

1 Tblsp Worcestershire sauce

2 Tblsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I use 2 to 3 tsp of dried parsley if I don't have fresh.)

1 large egg

1 lb ground turkey

Glaze

1 heaped Tblsp ketchup

1 Tblsp molasses

1 Tblsp apple cider vinegar (I have substituted white or balsamic vinegar)

1 tsp hot sauce (I like Texas Pete)

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions Meatloaf

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.

2. Lightly coat a 9" by 13" loaf pan with nonstick spray. Dice the onion, garlic, carrot in a food processor or by hand on a cutting board.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, coat the bottom with olive oil, and heat it for a minute. Then add the chopped vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and cook while stirring until they soften and begin to brown--about 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer them to a large bowl.

4. Add the breadcrumbs, broth, tomato paste, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, salt and pepper to the vegetable mixture and stir to combine.

5. Add the egg by beating it directly into the vegetable mixture.

6. Add the turkey and combine until the vegetable-egg mixture is dispersed through the meat.

7. Pat the turkey mixture into a loaf shape in your prepared loaf pan.

8. In a small bowl, combine all of the glaze ingredients and mix well.

9. Brush or spoon the glaze over the meatloaf.

10. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the internal temperature is 160F. Once done, let the meatloaf rest for 5 minutes, then cut it into 1 inch slices to serve.