Meatloaf Gobbler

I have been looking for years to make the perfect meatloaf, and have never been completely satisfied with a recipe, as my husband is a meat purist and doesn't care for barbecue sauce or ketchup. Last night, I decided to try something new and threw together some ingredients that seemed as though they would marry well into a good loaf... and VOILA! he LOVED it! ... This will be the standard recipe from now on... It's called the Gobbler because I used ground turkey, not deliberately, but because I didn't have enough ground beef and had the turkey on hand... (the name also fits because it was "Gobbled Up" quickly!)

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 6
• Yields: 1 meatloaf

Ingredients

• 1  lb ground beef
• 1 1⁄2 lbs ground turkey
• 1  slice  bread (fairly thick)
• 2⁄3 cup milk
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons butter
• 1⁄3 cup mushroom (chopped)
• 1  cup onion (chopped small)
• 1⁄3 cup celery (chopped small)
• 1⁄3 cup carrot (grated)
• 1  egg
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1⁄4 cup  Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Dressing (bottled)
• 2⁄3 cup  dry breadcrumbs (plain)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt (optional, see note)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 355°.
2. Saute mushrooms, onion, celery and carrot in butter until soft. Let cool slightly.
3. Soak bread in milk in small mixing bowl.
4. Put meat in large bowl, squeeze bread a little and add to ground meat.
5. Add egg to milk in bowl, beat with whisk.
6. Add worcestershire sauce and ranch dressing to egg & milk, mix well.
7. Blend salt with sage and bread crumbs, mix well.
8. Add veggies, milk mixture and bread crumb mix to meat and blend well with hands.
9. Lay a sheet of foil on a cookie sheet that has a short rim.
10. Shape your meatloaf on the piece of foil leaving 4 or 5 inches on each end, and a little on the sides.
11. Bake for 50 min @ 355°. Position loaf lengthwise under broiler and broil for about 8 minutes. (This loaf has no topping and the broiling browns the meat nicely).
12. Remove from oven -- lift foil carefully and tilt over pan slightly to let grease run off.
13. Place loaf on platter and let rest for about 5-8 min before slicing.
14. (note: I used about a teaspoon of salt and it came out a little salty, which is good for us, because the hubby likes it that way. Keep in mind that the ranch dressing is salty and you may want to leave the additional salt out.).