Recipe: Potato Meat Pie

Comfort food – isn’t all food comfort food? But some dishes are just extra warm, and hearty, and calls to mind evenings spent around the table with family and friends. This potato pie is in the style of the Lancashire Hot Pot (I use ground meat instead of stew meat).

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb ground meat (beef or lamb)
• 2-3 tbs olive oil
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 3 ribs celery
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups vegetable or beef stock
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 4 large Yukon gold potatoes

TOOLS:

• Sauté pan
• Spatula
• Whisk
• Bowls
• Knife and board
• Casserole pan

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Dice onions, celery, and carrots. Slice the potatoes thinly. If you are using a thin skinned potato like a Yukon gold, you will not have to peel them. If you are using a Russet potato, peel first.
3. Brown the meat in the sauté pan, and then set aside.
4. Brown the onions, celery, and carrots in the meat juices. Stir in the tomato paste and thyme.
5. Add the stock, and bring to a boil.
6. Whisk together the cold water and flour and mix and mix and mix until the liquid has thickened and is boiling again.
7. Reduce to desired thickness and stir the meat back in.
8. Pour into the casserole pan.
9. Layer the potato on top of the meat mixture, overlapping the edges slightly.
10. Bake for 50 minutes.