I’ve always had a love for meat loaf.  Making it for someone else can be a bit scary though.  In my experience, most people love their mom’s meat loaf and have a wall up guarding their taste buds from liking another.  My husband is no exception.  He likes my food, but none of my variations of loafed meat have even come in a close second, till this one.  So, if you have a person in your life suffering from, “I like my mommy’s meatloaf” syndrome, give this one a try.  Their taste buds might have room for two meat loaves to love.  Then, after their third helping you can say it was good for them too.

1 lb ground Italian turkey sausage

1 lb ground turkey

1 zucchini, peeled, and diced

4 oz. button mushrooms, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 red onion, diced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon dried basil

1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup steel cut oats

1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Saute the zucchini, onion and mushrooms in 1/2 tablespoon olive oil for five minutes or until soft.  Add garlic and saute for one minute.  Mix in dried basil and season with salt and pepper.  Let cool.

Beat the egg in a large mixing bowl with tomato paste, salt, pepper, garlic powder and Worcestershire.  By hand, mix in the oats, turkey and sausage.

Put mixture in a meatloaf* or bread pan, bake until the juices run clear and the top is browned, 45-60 minutes.  If desired, top with marinara sauce and bake another 5 minutes.

This little beauty also freezes nicely.  So feel free to make a ton.

*On a side note, I use a special meat loaf pan to reduce the amount of fat the meat may have.  The pan is similar to the one pictured below.  The fat drains into a resevoir below the meat.  The pan is non-stick, so clean up is easy!