Spicy Butternut Squash Meatloaf

This past weekend my bestie Laura (aka Lala) FINALLY came down to visit us and I could not have been more excited! However once she booked her train ticket down I started panicking...Oh crap, what on earth am I going to cook all weekend???  Sounds like a silly thing to worry about but you don't know Laura. This girl is a major foodie. No, not even just a foodie but a full on food snob! You know the kind who spends hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on just her dinner and won't eat leftovers. I knew our boring dinners of venison and broccoli just wasn't going to cut it.  Being a new mom was going to limit my time I had to prepare and living in a town that has a VERY small selection of gourmet foods was going to also be a major set back. We also like to eat somewhat seasonal so I started looking around my kitchen to see what we had picked from the farm recently and honed in on the gorgeous butternut squash I had. Ding, Ding, Ding....I came to me the second I saw it. I was going to plan a Spicy Butternut Squash Turkey Meatloaf. I know, you just turned your nose up when you heard meatloaf but let me assure you this is no run of the mill boring meatloaf, it's a pretty fancy one. Fancy enough and obviously yummy enough because Lala had seconds the next day. I'd call that a total success!

SPICY BUTTERNUT SQUASH MEATLOAF

 INGREDIENTS:

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced (3/4 cup)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 small butternut squash, peeled and diced in medium chunks (1 1/2 cups)

3 oz. bacon, diced medium (1/2 cup)

1 3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh sage leaves

1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

1 cup grated Parmesan

1 to 2 slices of sandwich bread, diced medium

1 large egg

While you are preheating your oven to 350 degrees, you can prep all your ingredients so they are ready to go. Please be careful when working with the butternut squash. You need to put some muscle in it but the skin is pretty tough so don't chop a finger off!

 In a medium skillet,  heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion,  garlic,  butternut squash,  and bacon, and cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables begin to brown and soften, about 5-7 minutes.  Add sage, red pepper flake, and salt and pepper and cook about 1 more minute.

 In a large bowl combine turkey,  cheese,  bread, and egg.  Using your hands, mix together the vegetable and bacon mixture to the turkey mixture.

Transfer the mix to a greased loaf pan and bake until cooked through. About 40 minutes. Let rest about 15 minutes before slicing.

We served the meatloaf with an equally delish side dish of spiced butternut squash and some cheesy sourdough bread from a local bakery. As a bonus the next day, the leftover sourdough and meatloaf was the perfect combination  for meatloaf sandwiches!