Turkey Meatloaf

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a lipped baking sheet or jellyroll pan with lightly oiled foil.

Roughly, but evenly, chop the carrot, celery, onion, and apple. Mince the garlic. Place in large saucepan with the vegetable oil and saute over medium heat till the apples and onions are tender, about ten minutes. Stir occasionally, but leave mostly covered when not stirring.

While the vegetables are cooking, cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces. Place bacon in the bowl of a food processor and process til finely minced. When vegetables are cooked, add to processor and pulse a few times til roughly minced and thoroughly combined with the bacon–you should still see identifiable vegetable bits, but they should be small.

In a large bowl, use your hands to thoroughly combine the vegetable-bacon mixture with breadcrumbs, sauces and seasonings. Using your hands, gently work in the ground turkey till homogeneous.

On the oiled, foil-lined baking sheet, form the mixture into a log about 4 inches by 10 inches by 3 inches. Spread lightly with the remaining 3 Tablespoons of ketchup and bake in preheated oven for about an hour. Clear juices will be pooling beneath the meatloaf (along with some crusty sticky stuff too). Let stand a few minutes and then use the foil to transfer the meatloaf to a cutting board. Serve forth with some form of potato, a green vegetable, and martinis.

Notes & Variations:
For something with a bit more spice, swap out half of the ketchup (both in the mix and for the topping) with Sriracha hot chili sauce.