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This is another yummie recipe from that pumpkin cookbook.  I made it the other night.  It might sound weird, but try it!

This is easier than a lot of other meatloaf recipes, because it does not require sauteing any veggies or anything.  The chopped onions go in raw.

Using a combination of ground meats is important…if you use just ground beef, it’s really nothing but a giant hamburger.  You get a much better flavor if you use a combination of meats.  Traditional meatloaf mix contains ground beef, pork, and veal, and you can sometimes buy packages of it.  But the veal makes it pricey.  I buy individual packages of ground beef, pork, and turkey or chicken, and use my kitchen scale to weigh out what I need.  The rest is refrigerated or frozen for future use.

This recipe calls for two pounds of ground meats.  I used one pound 80% lean ground beef, and 1/2 pound each of ground pork and ground turkey. I don’t recommend using anything less than 80% lean ground beef, unless you like your meatloaf swimming in fat.

Meatloaf with Pumpkin Glaze

1 slice whole wheat bread (or whatever kind of bread you have; I used oatmeal bread)
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 egg
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds meatloaf mix (see above commentary about this)
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Tear the bread into small pieces and place in a large bowl with the milk. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes, until the bread absorbs the milk.

Add the onion, 1/2 cup of the pumpkin, parsley, egg, oregano, salt and pepper to taste, and mix it all together well. Mix in the meat with a wooden spoon, then combine it all well with, as Julia Child used to say, your impeccably clean hands. I really hate cooking shows like that one that Johnson & Wales used to have on PBS, where everyone wore plastic gloves when handling food. I hate those gloves, they make my hands itch, and I see no use for them. If people just washed their hands properly and often, gloves would not be necessary. Sheesh. How did Julia manage to live to be almost 92 years old? (She passed away two days before her 92nd birthday.)

But I digress. With said impeccably clean hands, shape the mixture into a loaf, and put it into a baking pan, one of those rectangular pans that you bake lasagna in works just fine here.

Mix together the remaining 1/4 pumpkin and the brown sugar in a small bowl, and then spread it all over the meatloaf. I used a spatula for this.

Bake for one hour. If you use an instant read thermometer, it will be at around 160 degrees when the hour is up. A tad underdone, but then you want to leave the meatloaf out to rest for at least ten minutes. It gets tired from all of that poking, prodding, and baking, you know. As it rests, it will continue to cook, and by the time you serve it, it will be up to a safe temp of 180 degrees. This is especially important if you are using ground turkey or chicken rather than veal.

Slice, serve, and enjoy!