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A plate filled with Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes, with two large glazed Turkey Meatloaf Balls on top, with steamed veggies to the side. A small bowl with extra glaze is to the side.

Glazed Turkey Meatloaves with Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes

Does it get anymore home cooking than meatloaf and mashed potatoes?! I think not! Here, the meatloaf is lightened up by using turkey, and ricotta cheese instead of egg, milk and bread. Let's make them personal sized, and glaze them in a kicky sauce. And serve them on a bed of Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes.
Course Main Course
Cuisine North American
Keyword brown butter, mashed potatoes, ricotta cheese, turkey meatloaves
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

Turkey Meatloaves

  • 2 tsp plus 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large red, orange or yellow bell pepper, seeded and de-veined, finely diced
  • 1 small to medium red onion, finely diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 6 olive oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, finely diced, see Notes
  • 2 handfuls of parsley, finely chopped, about 1 1/2 cups
  • 3/4 cup (185 g) fresh whole milk ricotta
  • 1 lb (455 g) ground turkey, preferably dark meat, see Notes

Tomato Glaze

  • 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/4 cup (65 g) tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp (30 ml) apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper optional

Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes

  • 1 1/2 lb (780 g) Yukon Gold potaotes
  • 6 tbsp butter 3 oz or 100 g
  • Whole milk up to one cup (240 ml)
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • salt
  • white pepper

Instructions

Turkey Meatloaves

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush or use your hands to spread out the 2 tsp of olive oil over the surface of the paper. Set aside.
  2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the remaining olive oil. Sauté the red pepper and onion until softened and starting to brown on the edges, about 6-8 minutes.
  3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the garlic. Let these cool down slightly in a large bowl.
  4. Once cooled down, add in the oregano, salt, pepper, paprika and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to coat.
  5. Add in the ricotta and parsley. Combine everything well.
  6. Add the turkey and use your hands (fingertips) to bring everything together and well blended.

  7. Take a small amount of the mixture and create a small patty (about the size of a quarter) and sauté it in a pan over medium heat till cooked through. Cool and eat to determine if you like the flavour. If not, now is the time to adjust the seasonings in the mixture in the bowl. Only then are you ready to form the meatloaves.

  8. Pat the mixture down level and then use a wooden spoon to divide the mixture into four even sections.
  9. Use well oiled fingers to form two meatballs from each section. Make sure you press them firmly so that they will hold together in the oven as they bake. This will give you eight balls.
  10. Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush or spoon some of the Glaze over each meatball.
  11. Bake on the centre rack till nicely browned, and the glaze is burnished, and the internal temperature is 165F (74C) This should take between 30-40 minutes depending on your oven and how large you rolled the meatballs or if you formed one large meatloaf. Start checking after 30 minutes.
  12. Set them aside to cool down for 10 minutes before serving with Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes.

Glaze, can be made in advance

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat. You should see bubbles gently appearing on the surface. Whisk constantly till thickened, about two minutes. Set aside. Feel free to make the day before and reheated to thin it out.
  2. Feel free to double the recipe if you would like extra sauce for serving with the meatballs.

Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes

  1. Peel and cut the potatoes. If they are large, cut them into eighths, if on the smaller side, cut into fourths or even in half is fine.
  2. Add to a pot and cover with water and a good 2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium.
  3. Let them simmer till a knife easily slides into the centre of the potatoes. This should take around 15 minutes.
  4. While the potatoes are simmering, place the butter in a small sauce pan or butter pot. Set it over medium heat and let the butter go through all the stages of foaming and bubbling, till that wonderful nutty aroma is achieved, and browned bits of milk fat are stuck at the bottom of the pan. This should take about 12 minutes or so depending on the size of pot you are using.
  5. When the potatoes are cooked through, drain well, and use a potato ricer or masher to blend your potatoes. You can do this in the same pot you cooked them in.
  6. Add the browned butter, nutmeg and 1/4 cup of milk. Stir to blend. Continue adding milk until you achieve the texture of mashed potatoes that you like. Season with salt and white pepper

Recipe Notes

If you can only find dried sun-dried tomatoes, then reconstitute them by placing them in a bowl and adding boiling water over them. Let them sit until softened so that they can be easily sliced with a knife.
Feel free to replace the turkey with chicken, pork or ground beef.

I played with a recipe from Julia Turshen's book, Now and Again.  The glaze is new.