Happy Wednesday everyone–Jen is blogging tonight.  Thomas has been working hard this week so I decided to surprise him with dinner and brownies when he got home from work today.  This recipe is one of my all time favorites for comfort food.  Both my mom and my Nan make this, and I request it pretty much everytime we go up to visit Maryland, or my mom comes into town.  It is a very simple recipe, but the taste is amazing.  A must try as the colder fall and winter months are coming and the best part is this is a great casserole that you can have for leftovers for days.  Typically I don’t love leftovers, but this is one that I will eat until the whole pan is gone. 

Let’s cook!

Hamburger Pie

1 pack lean ground beef

1 large white onion, chopped

1 can tomato sauce

1 can sliced French green beans

Garlic salt to taste

Mashed potatoes (for this I tried the Ore Ida Steam and Mash–they worked great!)

Shredded cheddar cheese (2-3 handfuls)

Chop onions into a fine dice.

Saute beef and onions in a pan until done.

Add green beans to pan with beef and onions.

Add tomato sauce to the mixture and cook until well combined–about 5 minutes.

Cook the Ore Ida Steam and Mash potatoes according to directions on package.  Remove from microwave, add butter, milk, salt and pepper and use a hand masher until the potatoes are the consistency that you prefer. 

Place the beef and tomato sauce mixture into a casserole dish and top with your mashed potatoes.

Top the casserole with shredded cheddar cheese.

Cook for 1/2 hour in the oven at 325 degrees.  It should look like this when it comes out.  You will know it is done when you can see the tomato mixture underneath bubbling up to the top of the mashed potatoes on the side of the dish.

Here is how I plated the dish.

And the close-up.

This is a comfort food meal, so it is hard to make the plating really fancy.  This meal is probably not one that you would make for a big dinner party–it is more for home-style food that is just what you need at the end of a very long day.  It takes about 45 minutes from start to finish to make this recipe and I promise you, if you try it, you will definitely make it more than once.

Happy Cooking!