Pesto Turkey Meatloaf

This was a delicious, healthier take on meatloaf. Last summer I took advantage of cheap, fragrant basil at the farmer's market to make a substantial amount of pesto. We've been chipping away at our frozen stock with pizzas and pastas, but needed to change it up. I took some liberties with the recipe and wished that I had adhered to the baking instructions calling for a roasting pan instead of a loaf pan.  It still worked, just ended up pretty juicy.

Pesto Turkey Meatloaf
adapted from Kayln's Kitchen and Culinate


2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lb lean ground turkey
1/4 cup basil pesto
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/4 cup marinara sauce
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a roasting pan with draining slits (or 9x5 loaf pan, if you don't mind the juice) with olive oil.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 7-8 minutes till slightly brown. Add the garlic, lower heat and sauté 2 minutes.

Combine turkey, onion, garlic, pesto, parmesan cheese, salt, and breadcrumbs in a mixing bowl.

Form mixture into a loaf and set on roasting pan or into your loaf pan.

 Look at that yummy pesto!

Bake for 40 minutes. In the meantime, mix balsamic vinegar and marinara sauce. Brush sauce over meatloaf until fully covered. Bake another 5 minutes until cooked through, 160 degrees. (It takes awhile, the original blog says one hour and twenty minutes until done.) 

 Our final results weren't pretty, it didn't hold together in slices at all, but it was quite tasty.  If it was called "Crumbled Turkey with Pesto," I'd have nailed it.  Crumbled or sliced, it's pretty fantastic with  baked potatoes on the side.

Turkey Goulash

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups water
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes (drained)
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 T soy sauce
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb pasta (elbow, shells, bowtie, rigatoni, etc.)

Instructions:
I like to start by gathering all the ingredients and chopping all the veggies.

 Here's the chef trick for chopping onions quickly. Peel back the rough outer layers and cut out the darker tan core from the root-side. Stand the onion on end and cut in half from end to end. Lay the onion down on the cut side, as shown below. Cut perpendicularly, across the greenish grain of the onion, holding the shape of the onion together.

 Turn the onion 90 degrees and cut perpendicularly to the cuts you just made (you're now cutting from end to end again).  When you run out of enough onion to hold on to, flip the onion up and finish cutting using the broad base as your bottom edge.

 Alright, back to the recipe. Heat oil over medium-high heat in stock pot.

 Add the ground turkey, onions, and garlic.

 Saute until turkey is cooked (aka not red or pink).

 Add water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, soy sauce, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.

 Cover and simmer 10 minutes.

 Add pasta and stir well (otherwise pasta on top doesn't cook). Cook 10-20 minutes, depending on pasta.

 When pasta is cooked but still firm, remove from heat. Pull the bay leaf out before dishing up.

 It's delicious and works well as fridge leftovers and leftover lunches.