Meatloaf and Vegetable Calzones 

With Piquant Sauce

When the weather is cooling off the first thing I think of is, "Yeah! Warm comforting foods!" 

Meatloaf is one of my families favorite entrees to enjoy. If there's any left it makes for terrific sandwiches. With that in mind and the dilemma of "whats for dinner tonight?", I couldn't decide between meatloaf with potatoes and carrots or pizza. So I combined the two and came up with these. 

They turned out so very yummy and fulfilling not only by quantity but by comfort. The dough pockets are are tender and chewy just like the pizza crust, because it's my WOW! Pizza Crust recipe.
Although the only change I made in the recipe was that I purposely left out the Italian herbs. I was going more for a mid-west, southern comfort-home style dish. And that's exactly what I got.

My Mom accidentally added poultry seasoning to her meatloaf many, many, and many more years ago and it was a hit! So ever since then she, and then me, add that purposefully to our meatloaf recipes and it's a very familiar and welcoming flavor. No, your meatloaf won't taste like baked chicken (unless you want it too). You'd have to really alter the recipe to do so. 

She has always baked some of the piquant sauce onto the meatloaf towards the end which makes it thick , tangy and sticky. In other words it's perfect! She also always makes enough to pass around the table since everyone always wanted more. I not only make enough to pass around, but there will STILL be leftover sauce for slathering onto thick meatloaf slices as fantastic sandwich filling. My mouth is watering just thinking about that! Lovely tender bread, Best Foods Mayonnaise, meatloaf slices slathered with sauce, eaten cold (or warm) and devouring every bite. Man oh man but it's good!

I'm going give you the recipe for the meatloaf,  flour blend and the instructions for the pizza/calzone dough, and the construction of the calzones. 

Get the meatloaf going first, then you can work on the dough and the potatoes and carrots which are quickly microwaved before adding them to the meatloaf mixture for the calzones.

SO! Let's get ta-cookin'! 
This is a bit of a detailed set of recipes for: 1. meatloaf, 2. dough, 3. constructing and baking, 4. Eat em' up!

Debbie's Gluten Free Meatloaf

• Meat and Seasonings:
• 2 ½ lbs 85% lean ground beef, (15% fat isn't much and your meatloaf will have better flavor for it, besides, you will suction the fat off periodically during cooking)
• 1 small onion , cut into very small dice and sweated in 1 tsp olive oil, for 4-5 minutes, then add 1 Tbsp. of milk to the hot pan
• OR
• 4 bulbs shallots, diced and sweated in 1 tsp olive oil, for 4-5 minutes, then add 1 Tbsp. of milk to the hot pan
• ¼ cup dried parsley
• 2 large eggs, beat slightly
• 2 tsp kosher salt or seasoning salt, *if using table salt reduce the amount to 1 teaspoon
• ¾ tsp black pepper
• 1 ½ cups GF old fashioned oats, NOT instant
• 1 ¼ cups milk
• 2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 2 tsp ground oregano
• 2 tsp thyme leaves, dried and rubbed between your fingers into the meat mixture
• 2 tsp ground sage
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
• Piquant Sauce 
• 1 ½ cups dark brown sugar, packed
• ⅔ cups yellow prepared mustard
• 1 ½ cups ketchup

Pre-heat oven to 350℉. Spray a loaf pan generously with non-stick cooking spray. 
**If using the pizza stone place it into the oven on the bottom rung at this time as it needs to start heating up, you will turn the oven up once the meatloaf is done cooking.
1. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together. Use your hands to mix the meatloaf which will give it that nice rustic-homemade texture. (You might want to remove all your jewelry!). Using your hands is a lighter touch than using a spoon or mixer. Utensils and mixers over-mix, leaving your meat mixture mushy and institutionally textured, and can even produce a tougher textured loaf.
2.  Place meatloaf into the loaf pan and push it away from the sides by pushing your fingers down around the meat between it and the sides, rounding the top. Place the loaf pan onto a parchment or foil lined jellyroll pan, which will prevent any drippings from running over onto the oven bottom.
3. Bake at 350℉. for 40-60 minutes. While the meatloaf is baking you will want to periodically insert a baster to suck out some of the excess oil and discard it if you used regular ground beef. 
Make the sauce and set aside.
About 15 minutes before the end of the baking time and you have removed all of the oil possible, pour 1/2 to 2/3 cup of the sauce over the meatloaf and continue to bake the remaining time. An instant read thermometer should read 165℉. If the juices run clear, or there basically isn't any more juice running, AND the probe states 165 degrees-it's done! 
4. Remove from oven and let sit about 15 minutes. Run a knife around inside of the loaf and the pan, then using a spatula and a fork, lift meat from the bottom and place on a cutting surface. 

TURN OVEN UP TO 500℉ TO FINISH HEATING PIZZA STONE

WOW Pizza /Calzone Dough!  makes about 6-8 calzones
(**place oven rack on the next to lowest rung in the oven AND MOVE THE PIZZA STONE TO THIS LEVEL.)

Special Equipment Needed:      
-a pizza stone - essential for a firm browned crust
OR
-two baking sheets - these will be doubled up which enables the bottom of the crust to brown and bake without burning - HEAT THESE FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES AT 500℉
-1 large sheet of parchment paper cut into 6-8 squares, lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray

Dry Ingredients           makes  6-8 calzones   (or 2 thick/4 thin pizza crusts)     

white rice flour                   3 1/2 cups                  
tapioca flour                       2 1/2 cups                   
xanthan gum                      1 1/2  teaspoons               
unflavored gelatin            1 teaspoon                          
sugar                                    1/4 cup                      
psyllium husk powder*    1 Tablespoon     *essential for that wonderful "wheat bread" chew, the dough simply won't be the same without it
dry milk powder                1/4 cup                     
*Kosher salt                        1 teaspoon   *if using table salt cut amounts in half
dry yeast granules           2 envelopes pizza style yeast

◆ extra flour blend to dust your hands and parchment paper for forming the dough into the pizza/calzone round - about 1 Tablespoon per cup of risen dough

Wet Ingredients:
egg whites                             2 large                   
or                                                          
dry egg replacer = 1 1/2 teaspoons Energy Egg Replacer plus 2 Tablespoons warm water equals 1 large egg                                                  
olive or vegetable oil          2 Tablespoons          
vinegar                                  1 teaspoon                  
warm water 110º               *1 cup (+ )   *add the extra in step #2 only if needed
◆ extra oil to brush the dough edge before baking - about 1 Tablespoon

Crust Directions:  
1. Blend the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine the wet ingredients, in the bowl of your stand mixer. Turn the speed to the lowest setting and spoon in the flour mixer about 1/3 cup at a time. Add more water if needed to get a firm but very moist dough. You don't wan't the dough to be flaky or dry, nor sopping wet, slightly sticky is normal,and a light dusting of the flour blend makes it nice and smooth. Beat on medium-high speed for 6 minutes. This helps to give it some elasticity which acts similar to gluten, and allows the flour granules to hydrate leaving you with a smooth mouth feel instead of grainy or gritty. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let double in size in a warm place.

3. When doubled or close to that, divide the dough into 6-8 sections for calzones. Plop each dough portion onto a sprayed square of parchment paper, give each a few "kneads" or roll them into rough rounds about 6-8 inches in diameter. Cover with plastic wrap and set them to the side.

Meatloaf:

4. **Your meatloaf is probably done by now. (I actually made mine a day ahead! ) After removing the meatloaf from the oven let it sit and rest for about 15 minutes, this helps it slice nicer. In the meantime scrub or peel 2 large carrots and 2 medium potatoes. Dice into 1/2 inch dice, place into a microwaveable dish, add one tablespoon water, cover with lid or plastic wrap and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes. You want them to be al-dente, just starting to be tender as they will cook further in the oven, but you don't want them to be mushy in your calzones. Once par-cooked, remove plastic and let them stand while you finish the rest of the ingredients.
When the meatloaf is rested, cut 6-8 1/2 inch slices, then dice them in 1/2 inch cubes. In a medium bowl add the meatloaf and vegetable cubes, add about 1 cup of the sauce and gently mix together.

5. TURN OVEN DOWN TO 400℉
Assembling the calzones:

6. Divide meat and vegetable mixture between the dough circles. Add a little more sauce if you like, just remember that it will ooze out while cooking if too full. Fold the dough in half over the filling and press the edges together. You can even decoratively "crimp" the edges to make them gorgeous! Make a few careful slits for steam release in the tops of each calzone. 
I place a jelly roll baking pan on the rack directly under the pizza stone, with about 2 cups of water in it to catch any run-off from the sauce. Trust me. This keeps the fire alarms from sounding, dogs howling and your nerves fraying!

7. a.-Pizza stone baking - Open the oven, pick up the pizza peel and gently slide the parchment paper squares with the calzone half-rounds onto the stone.
OR
  b. -Baking sheet baking - Place the two pans directly one on top of the other, (nestled), then grasp the parchment paper squares and slide them with the calzones onto the pre-heated-doubled-baking pans already in the oven.

8. Bake the calzones at 400º for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust edge is golden brown . 

Remove from the oven and let them sit about 10 minutes if you can. Then cut in half and eat! Don't forget to pass the sauce to dip them in.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
Let the pizza stone rest in the oven for several hours to cool down. Wipe with warm water, never soap because the stone will absorb the soap and taint everything else you ever bake.

***A very yummy alternate dinner:
Fresh buttered mashed potatoes plopped on top of a thick meatloaf slice, hot peas plopped on top of the potatoes and some of the Piquant Sauce dribbled down over all. You can thank me later-don't talk with your mouth full!