Italian Spinach Meatloaf

with Healthy Tweaking

                                                     *shown with mashed potatoes and gravy

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil
1 large onion 1 shallot
4 garlic cloves crushed diced
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoons 2 teaspoons crushed hot red pepper
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained
2 lbs ground lean beef 1lb lean ground turkey meat
1 lb Italian style sweet sausage Italian style turkey sausage (hot or sweet) de-cased
3/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs homemade whole wheat bread crumbs (recipe to follow)
3 eggs 2 eggs, 1 egg white beaten
1/3 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

+ 1 teaspoon black pepper  

+ jalapeño (optional depending on if you like heat.  If you like a lot, do not remove seeds)       

Pre-eat your oven to 350°

Whole wheat bread crumbs:

3-4 slices of whole wheat bread

1 teaspoon dried oregano

4 teaspoons paprika

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon 2-3 pinches of salt

1/2 teaspoon 2-3 pinches of black pepper.

Place your bread in a food processor and, well, process until fine crumbs are achieved.  Lay these out on a foil lined cookie sheet and cook on the top rack of your oven for about 10 minutes. (You can tell when they look just crunchy to be done-and not burnt.)

Meatloaf:

Heat olive oil in frying pan on range on High. Add shallot, garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, hot red pepper. Lower heat to Low and cook until onion is clear. Add the spinach and break up with wooden spoon for like 5 minutes.  Allow to cool some.

Put beef and sausage in a large bowl and add in spinach mixture, bread crumbs, eggs, cheese and salt/pepper; mix well with hands. Make a mound out of your meat (like a squished loaf of bread-duh-and cover with bbq sauce and some hot sauce.  Cook 1 1/2 hours.

I add gravy to the slices when I plate.

Notes:

I love this dish and it is really simple to make.  I have been making it for years and found it at cooks.com. And because it takes so long to cook, you can make your sides while it finishes and/or take a nap, gym, laundry, etc…

Tweaks:

Substituted turkey meat for both the beef and sausage in the recipe.  The turkey burger has fewer calories, less fat, and a bit more protein.

Removed one egg yolk—it won’t be missed

Added black pepper and added to the amount of red pepper for this recipe.

Substituted shallot in place of an onion—it’s got more of a pop.

Made my own breadcrumbs.

I cut the thyme in half---it can come across too strong if you use too much.

Cheats:

I did not make my own gravy-I used a packet...lame, I know but this was made LATE and I was too tired to wow.

Verdict: Success

Tried and true, this recipe is still Neighbor-worthy.