From the Photo Archives: Turkey Meatloaf

I love cooking and I love photography—but sometimes I don’t have time to share my photos on the blog. I’m delving back into my photo back-log to bring you posts about things that I cooked and photographed awhile ago. 

One of my standbys (in the days of cooking meat) was turkey meatloaf. I love easy, one-pan dishes that can be served a few different ways. I liked that it used up my stale bread, and I especially liked a good meatloaf sandwich for lunch. Here’s one take:

I sautéed  two large carrots and one medium onion, all finely chopped, until softened and set them aside to cool slightly.

In a bowl, I combined a cup of bread crumbs (tale bread ripped apart), 1/3 cup of parsley, salt, and pepper. Then I added in the carrots and onions and mixed to blend.

Finally, I added the turkey (this is a little over a pound of dark meat, ground, from Di Paola) and an egg for binder.

Once it’s all combined, I put it in a loaf pan, and baked at 375° until the juices run clear when it’s pierced with a knife (about 45 minutes). If you like, you can add a layer of ketchup, tomato sauce, or mashed potatoes on top before baking, but I like to go plain and add fixings afterwards.

The best part about meatloaf is again, it’s easily riffed on. Try different ground meats and different vegetables. Use quinoa or other grains instead of bread. There are a ton of different ways to go.