Thanksgiving meatloaf with turkey, mushrooms, and pumpkin

When I learned this month’s ingredient was pumpkin, I thought about a turkey meatloaf recipe I’d seen in the October 2009 issue of Bon Appetit. The original recipe called for two kinds of ground turkey, but I thought having chunks of turkey would make for a better texture. Then I decided to add chunks of pumpkin and more stuffing-type of spices, so that it would be like having your turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin/squash all rolled into one big comfort food. The pumpkin also adds some moisture to what is typically a dry dish.

My adventures (What I learned): I bought two turkey thighs, thinking the thigh meat would be more flavorful and less expensive than breast meat. This was true, but deboneing almost two pounds of turkey thighs to get a pound of meat was labor intensive, and usually when you are making meatloaf you want easy preparation. I

would suggest looking for already boneless thighs, or spending the money on the boneless breast meat. I felt like, in an effort to avoid the connective tissue on the thighs, I left too much meat behind on the bones. When I first made this, I also had upped the salt to 3 tsp, thinking I’d need more because I had more ingredients, but it was too salty. I’d stick with the 2 tsp I wrote in the recipe, below.

Prep time: 30 min (or more if you have to debone the thighs)

Bake time: 45 minutes

Special items: 2 loaf pans or one 8x8 inch pan

Ingredients:

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing

2 cups of torn, crustless, day-old bread

8 oz of sliced cremini mushrooms

3 large eggs (or 2 extra-large)

½ cup diced shallots

1½ cups peeled, cored, and diced sugar pumpkin or butternut squash

2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

½ tsp ground sage

½ tsp poultry seasoning

2 tsp coarse kosher salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 lb. ground turkey (15% fat)

1 lb. boneless turkey thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush two loaf pans or one 8x8” pan with olive oil.

Mix together all ingredients (including two tbsp olive oil), and place in the loaf or brownie pan. Because I’m just cookin’ for me and Jesus, I used two loaf pans, so that I could freeze the extra for later. Bake until thermometer inserted into the center registers 170°F, about 45 minutes. Let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Conclusion: I served the meatloaf with glazed baby carrots, sautéed purple beans (which turn green when cooked – hence their mottled look in the photo), and cranberry sauce.

With the appropriate adjustments (using 2 tsps of salt, not 3, and finding either boneless thighs or breast meat), I would definitely make this again. I would also consider doubling the amount of pumpkin, because it worked well with the meatloaf and could have played a stronger role.