Turkey & Stuffing Meatloaf

One of my "comfort-habits" is watching various sped-up cooking videos...there's one called Tasty which is Buzzfeed's cooking division, another called Twisted that I think is British and is mostly ridiculous super-caloric creations (stuff like Garlic Bread Mac & Cheese Chicken Alfredo Lasagna or perhaps a Giant Fried Chicken Donut Sandwich. Twisted indeed!). Most of the stuff I have no interest in making; I just find the short videos relaxing in some way. Well, Tasty had one for Turkey & Stuffing Meatloaf that actually looked decent to prepare, and suddenly I had a Thanksgiving craving...

Their recipe uses a glaze with cranberry sauce & ketchup. I wasn't sure if I was going to try that, and then we switched up our last grocery trip to Lidl and they didn't have cranberry sauce, so I figured I'd make a simple gravy. They also did not have unseasoned stuffing, so I bought a box of their off-brand Stove Top.

I looked up some other recipes before making this, because I don't make meatloaf very often. And wow...there was quite a variance in quantities of the ground meat, stuffing mix, eggs and cooking times/temps. I am also not going to do things like measure 1/2 cup of diced celery...one stick is good, thank you very much. I'm gonna say quantities are pretty flexible. And if you do use unseasoned stuffing, you might want to use chicken broth to moisten it and add more salt/seasonings.

- 1 stick celery, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small apple, peeled & chopped (optional, but I thought it was good)
- pinch dried thyme (if you have sage or poultry seasoning that would be good)
- 1 box (6 oz) seasoned stuffing mix
- 1 package ground turkey (about 1 lb)
- 1 egg, beaten

1. Saute vegetables in olive oil until tender. Add garlic & apple, a pinch of salt & pepper and the thyme. Stir a couple times, then turn off heat and let sit. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Pour the stuffing mix into a large bowl and moisten with 1 cup water. Add turkey, egg, about 1/2 tsp of salt and some pepper, and the sauteed vegetables. Mix well. You may want to cook a small chunk of the mixture in a pan to taste and make sure the seasonings are how you want them.

3. Grease a loaf pan. I put parchment paper in mine as well, per the Tasty recipe, but I'm not sure that was necessary. Pack the mixture into the pan and bake for 45 minutes. Let sit for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Gravy:
- Melt 2 Tbl butter in a small saucepan on medium-low.
- Add 2 Tbl flour, whisk and cook about a minute, until bubbly.
- Add about 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or sub a bit of apple cider for some of it).
- Increase heat to medium and whisk until thickened.

Serve with mashed potatoes for sure (I have been making instant potatoes quite a lot during the pandemic, no shame!), and a veggie (roasted brussels sprouts?)