Meatloaf Pies

Sheperd's Pie

This week's ground-beef meal brought to you by Brad. Of course, all my ground-beef meals are ultimately brought to you by Brad because he has quite the affinity for it. In fact he adores meatloaf so much that he has told me he'd eat it every night if I made it that often. I don't. In fact, we eat it about once every 4 to 6 weeks, which is a bit too often for me because although I like it, I kind of tire of ketchup and such, which you just have to eat with it, right?

I design my menus in advance then shop for everything at once in hopes of staying away from the grocery store as much as possible. I swear to you that grocery stores literally suck the money right out of your wallet all. by. themselves. In other words, I spend too much money there because I'm always trying some new food or dessert! This week I wanted to go with a tried-and-true recipe, Meatloaf Pie, but make it a bit different. I made buttermilk mashed potatoes by America's Test Kitchen. (Oh ATK, how I heart thee!) Much better tasting, if I do say so myself, this meatloaf pie!

Sheperd's Pie, Southern Style

If you like or are familiar with shepherd's pie this is pretty much the same thing. Yet I think baking it in a pie crust really gives it that Southern flair. And although many true cooks will tsk, tsk me for using a frozen pie shell, on this day it worked best. I had things to do, and work to go to, and I wanted two pies - one to freeze and one to serve to my beef-loving husband and my grandfather. This recipe calls for making only one pie, but I find it to be too much for one so I always make two and freeze one for later. I also used deep-dish pie shells because they hold lots more potatoes and veggies.

Flaky sheperd's pie

I like to make one with carrots for Brad, and one with corn for me because Brad doesn't really like corn, but he'll pick it out when it's time to eat my frozen pie. You could always mix the veggies, or add in whatever you want, but we like to keep things simple. I rounded out the meal with cold cucumber slices in vinegar and pepper and roasted Brussels sprouts. Total comfort food.

Meatloaf Pies
Adapted from AllRecipes
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Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 (8.75 ounce) can corn (or peas or carrots, or a mixture of your choice)
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts (deep dish is best)
2 cups cooked, mashed potatoes
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Over medium heat cook ground beef and onion until beef is brown. Drain excess oil, and cool slightly.
3. To beef and onion mixture add egg, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well.
4. Divide and spread the corn (or vegetable mixture of choice) in the bottom of the two pie crusts. Then put a layer of the beef mixture. Spoon the mashed potatoes evenly over the beef, and sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake 30 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and golden.