Turkey Meatloaf with Red Pepper sauce (*no ketchup needed*)

One of the most popular comfort foods in good ol' meatloaf. Men especially enjoy this very 'meaty' dish. This turkey one  is adopted from one of my favorite food network chefs, Dave Lieberman (he makes healthy food on the cheap!). And I have to admit I have made very little changes to his original recipe.

I am not a fan of meatloaf but I enjoy this one--especially the red pepper sauce. I promise you will love this sauce--maybe so much you'll never want to ketchup covered meatloaf again.  Hmmmmm...wonder how this sauce would taste with fries?

Meatloaf:
2 pounds ground turkey (1 lb. white; 1 lb. dark preferred--play with the combinations)
2 eggs
3 ounces tomato paste (1/2 of 1 small can, reserving rest for the sauce)
1 teaspoon salt
 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup Panko (Japanese bread crumbs) 
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

Red Pepper Sauce:
3 ounces tomato paste (from reserved 1/2 can)
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 large red pepper, seeded, cored, and roughly chopped
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

15 grinds black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and then add all other ingredients. Mix by hand (this is a fun kid task--just be sure to wash those hands before and after). Place mixture into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and shape into a loaf. Place in center of the pan, allowing room on sides for the sauce (in other words, don't press into the sides). 

Now make the red pepper sauce. Add  all ingredients, liquids first,  in a blender and puree until smooth--about one minute. Pour all the sauce over the raw meatloaf; allow the sauce to pour over the sides.  Cover pan with aluminum foil making sure the foil does not touch the sauce or meatloaf. Bake for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake 45 minutes longer. Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes. Now slice and enjoy.

Theses also make great next day sandwiches

Rigatoni with sausage, butternut squash and kale

It’s getting really cold here and I am seeking a warm, comforting dish. Pasta, sausage and a heavy cream sauce always seem to warm my soul. To keep things a bit more healthy, this dish includes butternut squash and the super-hero veggie, kale. For tonight, I am using white pasta; whole wheat is obviously a better choice but the whole wheat doesn’t compliment the creamy sauce as well and since this is a once in rare while treat, I decided to go all out! If you want to make this dish, a lot--go for whole wheat or half whole/half white.
This recipe was adapted from Lauren Deen and “Kitchen Playdates”.

Rigatoni with Sausage, Kale and Butternut Squash

1 lb. mild Italian bulk sausage (if you don’t have bulk, remove castings from sausage)
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed in 1/2 in chunks
3 tbs olive oil
5 cloves garlic, smashed
8 sprigs fresh thyme
1 large bunch kale, torn into bite size pieces (tough stems removed)
2 c half and half (original recipe calls for heavy whipping cream)
1 1/2 c Pecorino Romano, shredded (Southern Italy's parmesan--a bit milder)
Few handfuls of Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 lb. rigatoni
salt and pepper

First preheat oven to 400 degrees and heat a large pot of salted water for the pasta.
Place butternuts quash and three garlic cloves in a large baking pan (think lasagna pan). Coat with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place sprigs of thyme on squash. Put in the oven.

On stove, cook sausage in a touch of olive oil until no longer pink. When done, drain in sink and run water over sausage until water under sausage runs clear (this takes out excess fat without removing flavor). Add the kale and remaining garlic to the pan (don’t clean out the sausage remains--the oil add flavor). Cook until kale wilts. Combine sausage and kale in large bowl; remove garlic.

At this point, the water should be ready for the pasta. Add it and cook for two minutes less than the required cooking time.

Check on the squash. You want it to be soft*. Once it is soft (this could take almost thirty minutes), take out of the oven and reduce heat to 375. Now remove the sprigs of thyme (letting the leaves stay on the squash or scraping them off the twig) and garlic. Add sausage and kale mixture to the pan. Add the cream and milk. Mix and add the pasta and 1 cup of the cheese.

Once mixed well, top with the remaining cheese and panko. If you have a while until dinner, let the dish hit room temperature and store covered with foil in the refrigerator for no more than 24 hours.

If ready, cover with foil and cook in the oven for 25 minutes. Take off foil and cook an additional 5-10 minutes (until topping is crispy).

Let sit five minutes before serving.

* It’s OK if it gets mushy, some of the squash will simply blend with cheese and adhere directly to the pasta (great if you have a kid that won’t touch veggies!)