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Do As The Romans Did And Eat Your Meatloaf

Photo by MICHELLE BAKER

This turkey meatloaf fits most healthy diets and puts an interesting spin on the old standby.

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By GREG and MICHELLE BAKER

Tribune correspondents

Published: March 5, 2009

It's time to go Paula Deen on ya'll.

It's not our fault; the TV made us do it. We were sitting around watching a network that airs a lot of food shows (we'll let you guess which one), and it seems that everybody is putting his or her own twist on meatloaf.

Yes, meatloaf.

Now, you may be thinking that we just lost any credibility we had gained with you, our dear readers. But we'd like you to take a moment and consider your childhood memories and the foods that revolve around them. Seven out of 10 of you are thinking about meatloaf right now, aren't ya? Meatloaf smothered in ketchup with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, swimming in a brown blob of gravy.

While some may be recalling fond memories, others of you may be feeling slightly queasy at the thought of a loaf of ground meat - maybe blackened, maybe raw - with the leftover vegetable du jour mixed in. Well, we don't do the gravy and we don't do the peas and carrots, but here at Sherpa Central, we loves us some meatloaf.

A good meatloaf is truly a thing of beauty. It can feed an army for pennies, all the while using up odds and ends that otherwise would be sacrificed to the garbage gods. Believe it or not, meatloaf can be traced back to the ancient Romans, who used everything from pigs to peacocks for the meat. The addition of bread or rice was a constant; it was a full meal in a loaf, good hot or cold, and cheap..

Of course, we can't just do this the old-fashioned way. Greg's never happy unless he's taken an old standard and put his spin on it. He took the plain old ground beef and replaced it with ground turkey, then stuffed it with provolone and spinach. It will fit into most healthy diets as well as the Sherpa homestead. Add onions and fresh thyme, and you'll forget about those loaf-ish nightmares for good.

TURKEY MEATLOAF WITH SPINACH AND PROVOLONE

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, finely diced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, stems removed and leaves chopped

1 pound ground turkey (or a combo of ground chicken and pork)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 cups bread crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

3 feet plastic wrap

4 slices provolone cheese

1 package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove the liquid

2 tablespoons ketchup

Heat a small saute pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, onions, garlic and thyme. Cook until the onions are translucent, remove from heat and allow them to cool. (There are two reasons for this: One, you don't want to start cooking the meat or eggs in the next step. Two, you don't want to raise the temperature of the meat or eggs to the point that any microbes wake up and start doing what they do best.)

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, eggs, breadcrumbs, and 1 teaspoon each, salt and pepper and the onion mixture. Mix well, adjusting breadcrumbs if necessary. Your mixture should be slightly wet but not too soppy. Place 2 sheets of plastic wrap, each about a foot and a half long, on your counter top so that they overlap slightly. Then spread the turkey mixture thinly (about a half inch thick) over the wrap, creating a rectangle shape (slightly larger than an 8 1/2-by-11-inch piece of paper). Arrange the provolone slices in the center of the turkey mixture. Arrange the well-squeezed spinach over the cheese, and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Lift the edge of the lengthwise plastic wrap closest to you and begin rolling the turkey into a tight loaf. The goal is to completely enclose the provolone and spinach. Next, grab each end of the plastic wrap and twist the ends to help tighten the roll from the sides.

Open the plastic wrap and use it as a vessel to transport the meatloaf to a baking pan. Discard the plastic wrap and turn the meatloaf so that the seam from rolling it is on the bottom. Slather the top with ketchup, place in a preheated 400-degree oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The end product should be firm to the touch and nicely glazed on top from the ketchup, but not black. That would mean it is burnt. Because of the cheese stuffing, you shouldn't try to slice this for 5 minutes after removing it from the oven. Trust us, you'll regret it if you do.

Serves 6

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