How to Bake Vegetable Meatloaf

Serves: 8

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 1hour 35 mins

Ingredients needed to make Vegetable Meatloaf:

•  1 ½ lb ground lean turkey
• 1 yellow bell pepper, stemmed, deseeded and finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, deseeded and finely diced
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 small zucchini, peeled and finely diced
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed along with a pinch of coarse salt into a paste
• ½ cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, finely grated
• 1 cup panko
• ¼ cup + 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 large egg
• ¾ cup ketchup
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes, crushed
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Cooking instructions for Vegetable Meatloaf:

• Warm up your oven to 425 degrees F.
• Drizzle a couple of tbsp olive oil in a large skillet and heat it over high flame until it starts shimmering.
• Throw in the diced bell peppers as well as zucchini and stir them together along with the garlic paste and half of the crushed pepper flakes.
• Sprinkle a pinch of salt and ground black pepper generously to season and sauté the mixture for about 5 minutes or until the veggies turn soft; set aside to allow the mixture to cool down.
• Crack the egg into a large bowl and sprinkle the chopped herbs into it.
• Whisk them together until the yolk breaks down to form a uniform, pale yellow mixture and dump the ground meat into it.
• Sprinkle the grated cheese over it, followed by a dash of balsamic vinegar and ½ cup ketchup.
• Tip the cooled sautéed mixture into the bowl and stir them all together until mixed thoroughly.
• Spoon this mixture into a 9’’x5’’ loaf tin, pressing it gently to stuff all of it into the mold.
• Place rest of the ketchup in a small bowl and empty ¼ cup balsamic vinegar into it.
• Sprinkle the remaining red pepper flakes on top and whisk them thoroughly until they blend properly.
• Smother the entire surface of the raw meatloaf with a lashing of the above mixture, using a kitchen brush and place in the hot oven.
• Bake for an hour or until it is cooked through and the surface browns nicely.
• Remove from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
• Carve out semi-thick slices and serve warm.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons