Eggplant Parmesan Meatloaf

This recipe was a really big hit! Meatloaf kind of rubs me the wrong way, but adding in the flavors, the eggplant, and the cheese made it more appealing to me and tasted amazing. The recipe originally calls for ground beef, but we aren’t big red meat eaters to we went ground turkey.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 pounds ground turkey
• 2/3 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• 1 and 1/2 cup jarred tomato-basil sauce
• 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large eggs, at room temp
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 1 medium eggplant, trimmed and cut into 6-8 1/2 inch thick slices
• 1/2 cup coarsely grated mozzarella

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the ground turkey, basil, parmesan, 2/3 cup tomato-basil sauce, breadcrumbs, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, garlic, eggs and onion until combined.
3. Press the mixture onto the bottom of a nonstick baking sheet or pyrex pan. Bake until cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.
4. While the meat is cooking, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO over medium-high heat. In batches, add the eggplant slices and cook until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes.
5. Turn the slices over and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 more minutes.
6. Remove the meat from the oven and arrange the eggplant slices on top of the meatloaf in a single layer.
7. Spoon the remaining tomato-basil sauce on the center of each eggplant slice.
8. Top with the mozzarella cheese and bake for about 5 minutes, until the cheese in melted.