Meat and Potato Pie or Torta di Carne e Patate

Last night we ate Italian.  I completely forgot I had this book The Complete Beginner's Guide to Everyday Italian Cooking by Betty L Torre.  It is an old book, published back in 1975.  I think I found this on eBay and, as it always does, life got in the way, and I forgot all about this book until yesterday when I happened to be going through my various cookbooks trying to decide what on earth to have for dinner - viola!!  I opened it up and, oh my!! the recipes!!  Looks like we will be eating Italian the next couple of days!!

I picked this recipe mainly because I had all the ingredients - good reason don't you think!!  Thankfully, no wild dash to the grocery store!!  It is very easy - the hardiest part is peeling and cutting the potatoes!  

Ingredients 

6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (I used "new potatoes" because that is all I had)

Water to cover the potatoes

pinch of salt

1 lb of ground beef

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1 T grated parmesan cheese

pepper to taste

3 T butter

1/2 cup milk

salt to taste

2 T parmesan cheese

3 T bread crumbs

1 T minced parsley

Directions:

Bring salted water to a boil, add potatoes, cover pot and cook until potatoes are tender - roughly 20 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the pie filling.  In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, bread crumbs, cheese and pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain in a colander.  Mash the potatoes with the milk, butter and salt.  

Rub a 9 inch pie pan with olive oil and coat the pie pan with half of the mashed potatoes..  Add the meat filling and spread it over the mashed potato "pie crust."  

Cover the meat mixture with the remaining mashed potatoes. (I was a little skeptical about the meat actually being cooked - but it does!)

Sprinkle the top with the parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and parsley. 

Bake in a preheated over at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes until the top is lightly browned.

VERDICT:

It was good.  The one thing I didn't like, it was greasy.  I think next time I will cook the ground beef before adding it to the pie.  Also, it needed "something" - a spice (oregano would be good), maybe some onions or a green pepper - something to give the meat just a tab bit more flavor.  It is a keeper recipe but needs a few adjustments.

Entire Recipe

Meat and Potato Pie

Ingredients 

6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (I used "new potatoes" because that is all I had)

Water to cover the potatoes

pinch of salt

1 lb of ground beef

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1 T grated parmesan cheese

pepper to taste

3 T butter

1/2 cup milk

salt to taste

2 T parmesan cheese

3 T bread crumbs

1 T minced parsley

Directions:

Bring salted water to a boil, add potatoes, cover pot and cook until potatoes are tender - roughly 20 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the pie filling.  In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, bread crumbs, cheese and pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain in a colander.  Mash the potatoes with the milk, butter and salt.  

Rub a 9 inch pie pan with olive oil and coat the pie pan with half of the mashed potatoes..  Add the meat filling and spread it over the mashed potato "pie crust."  Cover the meat mixture with the remaining mashed potatoes.

Sprinkle the top with the parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and parsley.  Bake in a preheated over at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes until the top is lightly browned.