Florentine Turkey Meat Loaf

Monday, I was sitting at my desk at work and thinking about my grocery list. When I grocery shop, I always go right after work because the Meijer store is right next door to my company and there is not one close to our house. I prefer Meijer for a few reasons: 1- My dad works for the corporate office, so I feel a bit like I’m supporting him. 2 – I grew up with it. 3 – It’s a megastore! Unlike the smaller grocery stores, everything is available there with many many choices!

Back to my point. So, I’m sitting at my desk staring at my grocery list that… well… I just started creating and to be honest, it was still just a blank sheet of paper rather than a list. I didn’t know what to make for dinner that night…let alone for the rest of the week!

Finally, I asked a coworker if she had any magazines or cookbooks at her desk (our company is primarily women, so we have these kinds of things handy) and to my luck, she did! She handed me this little Reynolds “Cooking with Foil” cookbook. I was skeptical at first, as I always am with recipes that come from a specific brand-name, but I found some great recipes to eventually use! I was able to make my grocery list and tagged many recipes inside.

Tonight I made my first recipe from this book. It is called Florentine Turkey Meat Loaf. Now, I still stand by Michael Chiarello’s Italian Meat Loaf as the best meat loaf recipe ever, but this Florentine Turkey Meat Loaf was right up there! Easy and tasty!

Florentine Turkey Meat Loaf

Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
1 cup spaghetti sauce, divided
1/2 cup Italian-seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 eggs (or 1 egg and 2 egg whites), slightly beaten
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed (optional)
1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
3/4 cup low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8- or 9- inch loaf pan with foil with dull side toward food.

Combine ground turkey, 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce, bread crumbs, onion, eggs, Parmesan cheese and fennel seed in medium bowl.

Press half of turkey mixture into foil-lined pan. Press a 1-inch indentation down center of mixture, leaving 1-inch thickness on all sides.

Toss spinach and mozzarella cheese together; spoon into indentation, mounding in center. Press remaining turkey mixture evenly over top, sealing edges.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes. Spoon remaining spaghetti sauce over meat loaf. Bake 15 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes.