Turkey & Bacon Meatloaf with Pickled Blueberries

I wanted to pickle some blueberries. It was initially nothing to do with the meal I was going to cook but having looked in the freezer to defrost something. I saw some turkey escalopes. Now I guessed that they would work beautifully together and I was right. I know that normally you would use turkey mince to make meatloaf, but my mind was now set on meatloaf. So, with the turkey being lean, I pulled out some streaky bacon to add to the turkey to keep it moist. Turkey and bacon meatloaf with pickled blueberries. Lovely!!

The recipe for the meatloaf is a nice easy one and slices really well. Perfect for a cheap and easy midweek meal. Served with a potato apple salad.

Ingredients:

500g turkey escalopes, cut into chunks
120g streaky bacon rashers, chopped
2 slices brown bread, soaked in 2 tbsp. milk
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tbsp. tomato ketchup
1 tsp. English mustard
1 egg
25g parsley.

Set the oven to 200 C.Put all of the above ingredients (apart from 1 tbsp. ketchup) and blend to a thick paste. Grease then line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper and put the meatloaf mix in, patting it level. Spread the remaining tbsp. ketchup on the top.

Put in the oven for approx. 45 minutes and then remove from the oven and leave to cool for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a board. Slice thickly.

For the pickled blueberries:

225g blueberries
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 star anise
1 stick cinnamon
1 bay leaf

Put the vinegar, water, sugar and spices into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Then put the blueberries into a bowl and add the vinegar & spices. Leave to cool and then pop in the refrigerator for 3-5 hours. When the time is up, strain the blueberries and put the pickling liquid back onto the heat. Boil to reduce by half and then pour back over the blueberries. Leave to cool before serving.

For the potato apple salad:

Boil about 8-10 new potatoes in their skins until tender. Leave to cool before removing the skin and chopping. Put into a bowl and add 3 chopped spring onions (scallions), 1 small apple, chopped finely. Add 2 tbsp. salad cream and 4 tbsp. mayonnaise and mix through. Season with salt and pepper.

I served these all together with some garlic puree (recipe here), and Spanish padron chillies. But you can serve the meatloaf with anything you like! Enjoy!