Red Pepper Turkey Meatloaf

A very nice, soft meatloaf. Originally an Ellie Krieger recipe. I have made this with both the turkey and the beef and while I liked it both ways, I actually preferred the turkey. The sauce toppping is not sweet, which we very much liked, but if you are used to sweeter topping, sprinkle some brown sugar Splenda into the tomato sauce or use some ketchup instead (just squirting some over the top to taste).

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1⁄2 cup skim milk
• 1  medium onion, peeled
• 2  lbs lean ground turkey or 2  lbs lean ground beef
• 1⁄2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2  large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2  teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1⁄4 cup ketchup
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder (or some cloves of fresh minced garlic to taste)
•  black pepper, to taste
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce (or a few squirts of ketchup)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the oats and milk.
3. Very thinly slice 1/4 of the onion into rings and set aside.
4. Finely chop the remaining onion.
5. In a large bowl combine the ground meat, oat mixture, chopped onion, bell pepper, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup,garlic powder, salt and a few grinds of pepper. Mix just until well combined.
6. Transfer the mixture to a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and shape into a loaf about 5 inches wide and 2 1/2 inches high.
7. Pour the tomato sauce over the meatloaf and sprinkle with the sliced onions (or if you prefer, squirt some ribbons of ketchup to taste over the top).
8. Bake for about 1 hour or until no longer pink inside.
9. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing (it will not be a very firm meatloaf); the height be very low and your slices will be in long rectangular strips.