Pepper Ring Meatloaf

I caught an episode of Sunny Anderson’s Cooking for Real awhile back, and she made meatloaf that was stuffed into pepper rings.  I, for one, love meatloaf.  A warm slice between two pieces of mayo’d and ketchup’d bread – total comfort food.  The Husband and Nicholas?  Not so much.

But stuffed into a sliced pepper ring?  I thought I might be able to get away with it.  I’ve learned that sometimes you just need to change the appearance or name of something to slip it past them.  Shhh.

Nicholas wouldn’t touch it, but he’s got a more watchful eye than The Husband does.  The Husband, however, dug in, and polished it off.  About halfway through, he looked up and asked me what it was.

“Meat in a pepper ring.”  What?  You think I’m crazy?

When he was done, I said, “Also known as meatloaf in a pepper ring.”

He gave me a look and then said, “You know I don’t like meatloaf.”

“Well apparently that’s not necessarily true since you just ate it all.”

And it was turkey meatloaf to boot!  Now if only I could get him to like regular meatloaf, I’d be set, but since I don’t see that happening, it just means more for me and assorted neighbors and friends.  Wouldn’t you like to be a neighbor too?

Hungry for more meatloaf recipes?
Serious Eats celebrated National Meatloaf Day, with a bunch of new recipes for your dining pleasure.
Jason from Off the Broiler went with a Latin version.
And Fine Furious Life shared a twist that you just have to see to believe.

P.S.  And no worries, I haven’t abandoned my menu plan already.  This was made awhile back and just never made it to Sweetnicks.

Pan Fried Meatloaf in Tricolor Peppers
Recipe courtesy Sunny Anderson

1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground turkey
2 slices white bread, cut into cubes
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes with basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped sage leaves, plus 6 to 8 whole leaves, for frying
A few dashes Worcestershire sauce
A few dashes hot sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon oil
oil, for frying

Preheat oven to 400F. Remove core and seeds from peppers. Slice into 1 inch rings and place on nonstick baking sheet. You should get about 3 rings per pepper. In a large bowl mix together beef, turkey, bread, 1/2 cup of the tomatoes, garlic, egg, onion, chopped sage, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and season with salt and pepper. Press meatloaf mixture evenly into pepper rings. In a skillet over medium-high heat, add oil. Saute meatloaf rings on both sides until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Add remaining tomatoes to skillet and bake until cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat 1-inch vegetable oil until a deep-fry thermometer reaches 325F. Drop sage leaves into oil and fry until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Garnish meatloaf rings with fried sage leaves.

Cate’s Notes:  I skipped the fried sage leaf thing since it seemed a little unnecessary to me.  Recipe serves 4-6, which is spot on.  I kept half and shared half with friends (2 adults, 2 kids), so we fed 4 adults and 3 kids for under $15.  Not too shabby.