Turkey Meatloaf Stuffed with Spinach, Carrots and Shiitake

This meatloaf is a total crowd pleaser. One of its secrets is the colors, the dark of the meat, the green from the spinach, the orange from the carrots, and the white from the egg whites. I am using the spinach, parsley, celery, onion and eggs from the farm. Shiitake comes with the CSA delivery but they are Colorado’s local Hazel Dell organic mushrooms. Many vegetables work well in this dish, just get creative! Corn, zucchini, bell peppers, broccoli. For richer taste and additional fiber, add grated celery to the meat dough.

I found this recipe in a magazine maybe 30 years ago and I stick to it. The original recipe calls for beef and regular mushrooms. Today I used turkey and shiitake mushrooms. Just because I have shiitakes.  Meat would be too strong with them, so turkey was today’s choice. I also used whole wheat bread, soaked in chicken broth, instead of white bread and milk, as stated in the original recipe. Making this delicious dish is easier than it looks, I assure you.

Turkey Meatloaf Stuffed with Spinach, Carrots and Shiitake

8 servings

Ingredients

Meat Dough

1 1/2 lb ground turkey

1 whole wheat bun or breadcrumbs, soaked in broth (chicken or vegetable), then drained

1 large thinly chopped onion

4 garlic cloves, very thinly chopped or garlic powder

1.5 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

A pinch of cinnamon

Kosher salt, pepper

optional: thinly chopped celery, fresh parsley, green onions

Stuffing

1 big bunch of spinach steamed and drained or 1 pack of frozen spinach (16oz), defrosted, drained

1/2 cup of shredded carrots

¼ cup of chopped onion (optional)

6 large shiitake mushrooms, sliced

3 eggs, boiled and cut ½” slices

2 slices of bacon, cut in ½ across

Sauce

1.5 cup of chicken or vegetable broth

1/4 cup of half and half

1 or more tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup of minced Italian parsley

1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms

1 tablespoon of cornstarch

Kosher salt, pepper

Topping

1 slice of bacon, cut in ½ lengthwise and then cut in ½ across

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.

Meatloaf

Combine meat dough ingredients in a bowl.

Place ½ of the dough into a loaf pan coated with cooking spray., forming a bed for the stuffing. Layer the spinach, carrots, onions, mushrooms and eggs over the meat mix. Top with the bacon slice halves.

Pat small amounts of remaining meat mixture over the stuffing and patch over the stuffing, until it’s all covered. Top with the loaf with the 4 pieces of bacon, diagonally.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until browned. Remove from pan and cut into 8 slices.

Sauce

While the loaf is baking, prepare the sauce:

Combine all sauce ingredients, except the cornstarch, in a pan and cook in medium heat.

Bring to a boil. Lower the heat.

Add the cornstarch, dissolved in ¼ cup of broth.

Stir constantly until the mixture gets thick.