technicolor meatloaf

This past weekend Brad was off to Texas to visit his cousin Mark. Quite frankly, I was excited about the weekend alone by myself. Long, luxurious bubble baths, uninterrupted hours of reading, girly movies on the widescreen, and evenings spent eating whatever I wanted were in my future. Unfortunately for me, the weekend didn't totally end up like I had envisioned (I was too darn busy with other commitments), but I did manage yesterday to watch some food porn tv that got my creative juices flowing. I happened to catch an episode of Cooking for Real, where the host made a pan-fried meatloaf. It looked pretty interesting. So I embarked upon it with a few modifications of my own, more suited to go along with my leftover baked macaroni and cheese and steamed broccoli.

Technicolor Meatloaf

3 slices wheat bread (diced small)
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1 egg
3/4 lb each of grass-fed ground beef & breast meat ground turkey
1 small yellow onion, diced small
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup crushed tomatoes
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp Frank's hot sauce
basil, oregano, parsley, salt & pepper to taste

Mix all of above ingredients. Using your hands is messy, but recommended.

Messy meatloaf mixing

Next up, cut yourself some pepper rings! I made mine about 1 - 1 1/4" thick. I got three rings from a normal pepper, 4 for a really big one. Spread them out on a cookie sheet in preparation.

Pepper rings ready to stuff, and stuffed

Now that your peppers are ready and so is your loaf, get to stuffing! Pack them as tight as you can, as the mixture will reduce some in size when you start to sear them in the frying pan. Sear each of the meatloaves in a pan on medium-high heat, about 5 minutes per side. You don't want them cooked throughout, just some browning for color. Place the mini loaves back on the cookie sheet once they're seared to go into a 400 degree F oven for another 20 minutes. Just prior to placing in the oven, I decided the loaves needed a little extra kick. So I spread each with a secret mixture of sriracha, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne pepper.

Meatloaves ready to bake

After the meatloaves are done cooking, it's time to eat! Plate yourself up some dinner with some mac and cheese and broccoli, and you're ready to rock.

Another meatloaf dinner