KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
By Erin Walgamuth:
I really love the versatility of meat loaf, or in this case turkey loaf. It’s sort of a kitchen-sink kind of dish around here. I like to put grated vegetables such as carrots or zucchini in ours. You will always find sautéed onions or shallots and herbs in the ones I make. They are sort of a whole meal in themselves.
Well, Monday night was chilly and I thought a bit of comfort food was in order, but what to make? There happened to be a package of ground turkey, some baby spinach and some crumbled gorgonzola in the refrigerator, bingo! My family ate every bit, not even any leftovers for lunch, dang!
Turkey Loaf with Baby Spinach and Gorgonzola
Serves 4
You will need:
- 11-12” sauté pan
- Large mixing bowl
- 2 ½ – 3 quart baking dish
Prep time is about 20 minutes
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Cook time 30 minutes
- 1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 garlic cloves finely minced or use a garlic press
- ½ of a medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 pinches of sea salt or to taste
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
- 20 oz package of ground turkey
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground sage
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 large egg beaten well
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce or ketchup
- ½ cup crumbled gorgonzola
Put olive oil in the sauté pan with garlic. Turn heat to between low and medium-low. When the garlic starts to sizzle sauté for 30 seconds then add the onions. Turn heat to medium and stir the onion in the oil and garlic mixture. Add 1 pinch of salt and stir to incorporate. Sauté the onions for about 8 minutes or until they are slightly soft. Add the spinach and stir to combine. Add 1 pinch of salt, stir to combine. Sauté the onions and spinach for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and set aside.
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Put the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add salt, sage, basil, oregano and mix well. Add the beaten egg and tomato sauce, mix well. Add the gorgonzola and mix well.
Place the turkey loaf mixture into the baking dish and shape into a 6” by 8” loaf with your hands.
Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until done all the way through. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
I served the turkey loaf with steamed small red potatoes, tossed in butter and fresh parsley. I also served carrots cooked in chicken broth, yum!
Look below for more of Erin’s great Thanksgiving Recipes:
Spaghetti Squash With Vegetable And Ground Turkey Sauce
Erin Walgamuth has been an assistant Food Stylist for television and print for the past 26 years and writes this column using her own recipes. Check out her other creations in our Hometown Recipe section.
