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.
I love meat loaf. In fact I just posted one also. It’s great hot or cold and I always make 2 and freeze one….
I love the idea of pepper rings (and we all love meatloaf….my recipe, that is!), but I have a question. A 28 oz. can of tomatoes seems like a lot for one pound of meat. Doesn’t it come out “soupy?” Maybe the bread helps absorb some liquid….it just seems like a lot to me. Thanks!
It says to heat the oven to 400, but you are frying them in a skillet, so what’s the oven for?
Thanks!
Rachel
Rachel, it finishes cooking in the oven: “Add remaining tomatoes to skillet and bake until cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.”
Darla, no. Only a little bit of the tomatoes gets mixed in with the meat. The rest serves as a sauce.
Debbie – should definitely start freezing some – good idea.
You should have taken pictures. Sunny Anderson is my girl – I love her. She has a blog too – http://www.sunnyanderson.blogspot.com – show her some love. She’ll comment back!
Darius – thanks for the heads up on her blog – will definitely stop by. I’ve tried a few of her recipes and like them. Love her personality and laidback attitude. Pictures were not post-worthy. :(
Anytime you want to send something to #40 – feel free to do so!
Hi. We love these bell pepper ring meat loaves. But I don’t fry mine at all. I just fill up the rings with the meat loaf mixture….make a topping sauce out of ketchup, mustard and brown sugar that I got from Paula Deen meat loaf recipe and bake them in the oven as I do a regular meat loaf for about 45 minutes. DELICIOUS and everybody has their own little meat loaf. So cool.