It took me a minute to decide what to call this dish because while I use a blend of turkey and grass-fed beef, you are more than welcome to use whatever your protein of choice is. I've never tried it with ground chicken, or ground sausage. I've always just loved my turkey and beef mix. But everyone loves bacon and I feel like that in itself is a strong selling point. So Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf it is!
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb Italian Season Turkey (ground)
1 lb ground grass-fed beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS avocado or olive oil (do NOT use extra virgin olive oil, regular olive oil will do)
1 tsp dried oregano (for that extra flavour)
1 tsp chili powder
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c almond flour
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1-2 TBS soy sauce (depending on how savoury you like it)
bacon strips (you'll need about 6 strips)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease or line a baking tray (a glass baking dish can work too, but it doesn't crisp the bacon up as nicely); the bacon fat renders down and will produce A LOT of bacon grease; you'll want to make sure it doesn't spill) with parchment paper to make it easier to remove. I usually will line the baking tray (I use one with raised sides) with foil first, and then parchment. It helps me catch the bacon fat and makes for easier clean-up after.
2. In a skillet over medium-heat, heat your oil and cook your onion and celery until it is soft (this shouldn't take more than 5 min). Then add in garlic, oregano, and chilli powder and cook until it's fragrant. Once done, set this aside to cool down.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the turkey and ground beef together. Add in the cheddar cheese, almond flour, parmesan cheese, eggs, soy sauce, and season with salt and pepper. If the onion and celery mixture is cool enough to add to the meat (without cooking the egg prematurely), combine them all together. Make sure you mix them well!
4. Transfer your meatloaf mixture onto the baking tray and shape it into a loaf. I find it holds and cooks better when I make it shorter and wider as opposed to a taller loaf. Lay strips of bacon over to cover it and secure with toothpicks at the ends.
5. Bake until meat is cooked through or bacon is crispy. I have found consistent success in cooking it for 50 minutes, then turning off the oven but leaving it inside to crisp up the bacon. You can open the oven door to vent out some air. This also keeps the meatloaf warm without burning it to a crisp.
Serve as a main or pair with a nice salad, or use it as a sandwich filling. This dish is so flexible, hearty, and keeps and reheats well. I've made this dish more times than I can count because my little family keeps requesting it. I hope you enjoy it too!