Barbeque Meatloaf

In testing recipes for Thanksgiving sides, I also decided to make one of my cool weather favorites: meatloaf. The recipe I use is adapted from Paula Dean's Barbeque Meatloaf. It is fantastic, moist, and homey. I'm going to be eating it tonight with my Thanksgiving butternut squash soup and brussels sprouts hopefuls (recipes to come with later Thanksgiving prep posts, after I know that they are a go).

Here is the recipe that has worked for me whenever I need a good comfort food:

Barbeque Meatloaf (adapted from Paula Dean's)

What You Need

- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground turkey
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons vinegar
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup water, to thin sauce if necessary (I very rarely use this)


What You Do

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Saute chopped onion and bell pepper for 5-8 minutes. Let cool for a couple minutes.
3. Mix together the beef, bread crumbs, onion, bell pepper, egg, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce.
4. Form this mixture into a loaf and place it in a shallow pan.
5. Stir together the remaining tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, mustard, Worcestershire and the water (if too thick, which it rarely is).
6. Pour this sauce over the meatloaf. (This will look pretty scary. The meatloaf is swimming in the sauce, but don't worry! It will absorb and the sauce will no longer be there at the end.)
7. Bake for 1 hour, basting every 15 minutes with the pan juices. If there still are a lot of juices and sauce, let go another 15 minutes.
8. Enjoy!

Leftovers should be eaten on English muffins for a fantastic sandwich. Yum.