Wow. What a revelation this was after preparing it for the first time this evening. So full of flavor, almost sweet even, which was surprising because the usual meatloaves made with ground turkey just don't have any zing, and for this one I also used bitter greens.
The idea for it started to come to me when I saw the rapini on special today. I remembered how my sister-in-law in New Jersey at one time had served up some hot and sweet Italian sausages the old world way with sauteed rapini, otherwise called broccoli rabe. But instead of sauteing the rapini with the onions and the garlic in the oil, it seemed better to me to skip the saute altogether and incorporate all these raw into the meat mixture. The result was amazing. The boy said, "Dad, you could make some money with this one."
That'll do, for me.
Italian Meatloaf
1 egg, beaten in a large mixing bowl
1 T extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
.5 cup oat bran
1.25 lbs. ground turkey
4 T tomato paste (.25 cup)
.5 cup onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
4 oz. rapini leaves and heads, finely chopped
.25 t black pepper
.5 t fennel seed
.5 t crushed red pepper flakes
1 t salt
1 t sweet Hungarian paprika
1. To the beaten egg, add the oil, cheese, oat bran, tomato paste, and turkey. Gently mash with, you guessed it, ye olde trusty potato masher, until thoroughly mixed.
2. Add the black pepper, fennel seed, crushed red pepper, salt, and paprika to a coffee grinder. Pulse until fine, and add to the meat mixture. Mash in until mixed.
3. Then add the rapini, garlic, and onions. Mash to blend in.
4. Heat the oven on bake to 375 degrees F.
5. Load the mixture into a well-greased glass loaf pan, or into a non-stick loaf pan. I used a non-stick gold finish loaf pan from Williams Sonoma with good results.
6. Bake for about 50 minutes until an instant read thermometer stuck in the middle of the loaf reads 180 degrees F. Use a heat-proof silicone spatula all the way around the loaf to loosen it a little and turn out onto a plate to cool for five minutes. Slice like bread and serve with your favorite tomato sauce on top, or with ketchup dontcha know, and a nice spinach salad on the side. That's livin!
