I love meatloaf! As a matter of fact, my idea of a balanced meal is having a meatloaf in each hand! That’s a true story. Meatloaf is the dish that keeps on giving; I love it cold on a sandwich the next day.

For those of you watching your waistline (I haven’t seen mine in years!), make a turkey meatloaf substituting the real good meat with 3lbs. of turkey meat which has less fat then the standard meatloaf. But be careful if you use turkey meat to make the meatloaf, you’ll need to bake it in a glass dish or loaf pan, because it doesn’t hold up like the real meat. It’s still very tasty though. When adding spices I use a little more quantity than what’s listed so use these measurements as a guideline and change as you see fit.

3 lbs. ground meat (1 lb. each of) no more than 85% lean ground beef, ground veal, and ground pork

1 large, finely chopped onion (I prefer Vidalia)

1 medium, finely chopped green pepper

½ cup good salsa (not too much liquid)

2 cloves of finely chopped garlic

2 eggs, well beaten

¼ cup chicken stock or low salt broth

2 tsp. tomato paste

2 slices soft, whole wheat bread

1 tsp. salt

1 tbs. pepper

3 tbs. Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tsp. cayenne pepper

2 tsp. oregano

2 tsp. thyme

2 ½ tbs. finely chopped Italian parsley (fresh)

1 tbs. olive oil

1 ½ - bottles of Heinz Chile Sauce or ketchup (depends on your taste)

In a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat add olive oil and, once hot, add onions, garlic and green pepper. Stir into the sauce pan the tomato paste and chicken broth, mix well. Cook until onions become translucent. Remove pan from the heat and let mixture cool. In a big mixing bowl add meat, eggs, Worcestershire Sauce, all the dry spices, parsley, salsa and milk-soaked bread. Mix well with hands incorporating all ingredients. Add ingredients from sauce pan (once cooled) and mix until mixture is fully incorporated.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Shape mixture into loaf and place on a non-greased baking sheet. Put into oven and cook for one hour. (Note: about a half hour into cooking remove pan and drain excess grease) After loaf has cooked for one hour spread chili sauce or ketchup on top and place back in oven to cook for an additional fifteen minutes.Then drain the grease when done cooking. Serve warm as entree or cold for sandwiches.

This recipe comes from Big Joe Henry's Big Jersey Cookbook

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