Using Alton Brown's meatloaf recipe as a starting point I've been experimenting with different meat mixes. This time I wanted to make a meatloaf that would be a bit more friendly towards my cholesterol level so I used 1 pound of turkey. In order to keep it from being too bland I mixed in 3/4 of a pound of lamb leg (on sale!). To up a the flavor I dropped in 3 ounces of parmesan. These items made two trips through my Kitchenaid meat grinder attachment with the coarse grind disc in place. Beats the hell out of my old hand grinder. For team veg I dropped 2 carrots, 1/2 onion and 1 red bell pepper and 3 ounces of shitake mushrooms into the food processor for a few seconds. Margaret says I should have pulsed it one more time to break up the carrots a little more, but I like it. After emptying the veg I processed 6 ounces of saltines and threw everying in a bowl to mash it up with my hands (fun!). I added an egg and a few last minute herbs and prepared to bake. I use a cookie sheet a simple ketchup glaze to maximize browning potential and cook to an internal temp of 155.
The results were quite delicious. The addition of mushrooms and parmesan made a very savory flavor which I thought needed a little brightening. A nice tomato sauce would do just the trick. This meatloaf mix would do great as meatballs or in ravioli, so that's exactly what I did next. I reseverved a bit of meatloaf to try some ravioli and the results were passable. I made an egg noodle sheet, thinning it out to number 3 on my machine. This turned out to be too thick when the doubled up on the edge of the ravioli so next time I'll try it a bit thinner. This will also help my yeild a bit. The noodles were also a bit tough, I'll try it without egg and see what difference that makes. If you're interested, heres some instruction on making your own ravioli.
