When I was growing up, apparently we didn’t eat a lot of the traditional home cooking that are familiar to friends. Among the “traditional family meals” that are a mystery to me has always been Frito Pie. Can of chili, covering Fritos with cheese and onions sounded both fascinating and terrifying. However, it fascinated me enough that I decided to try it with some extra chili as a way to creatively use some leftovers.

I looked up some Frito Pie recipes online, but they were almost all identical. It involved a bed of Frito chips, layered with chili, cheese and onions.

This was tasty, and an interesting way to use chili. However, the Fritos at the base ended up a bit stale, so next time (and there WILL be a next time) I’m going to try crushing the Fritos and make a more solid base. Overall, though, using homemade chili in this recipe made it really, really tasty!

Tonight’s dinner had me pretty concerned. Remember that ham I talked about? Well, it was time to use it up, so I decided to improvise. I was skeptical about my choices until my first bite, but it turned out really delicious! All the tasty goodness of pot pie and surprisingly quick to make.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups of chopped ham (I suspect chicken would work just as well!)
• 1 cup chopped baby carrots
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 1 chopped whole onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 can Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 1 can water
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used swiss… yum!)
• Butter or olive oil
• 1 can Reduced Fat Buttermilk Biscuits (1 can of Grands size, 2 cans of smallish biscuits would work)

Usually I don’t make something as rich as Shepherd’s Pie or Scottish Meat Pies so close to each other, but since my friend Allen the Scot wasn’t able to make it for the Meat Pies I thought another tradition from the British Isles was in order.

I’ve been making this recipe for years and it’s certainly a family favorite — at least for my husband and me! I can’t recall whose recipe I bastardized and made my own, but it’s a fun (and veggie-full) twist on the traditional. In honor of our favorite finicky Scot I chopped the vegetables very finely to disguise their full amount. (Sorry Allen!) It’s easy, though time-consuming, but worth every moment. We made one large and one small casserole of this and the four of us demolished the large one in short order!

QUICK TIP: Use a pressure cooker to make quick mashed potatoes. Shortcut Chef or no, there’s never an excuse to use potato flakes for mashed potatoes. Using a pressure cooker only takes a few minutes and keeps the texture of the potatoes perfect. I just have this Manttra 6qt Pressure Cooker from Target with a pop-up steamer basket, and it works great every time. Just follow the instructions and you’ll leave your potato flakes for getting creative with other recipes!

The recipe is behind the cut!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 lb extra lean Ground Beef or Lamb (I like to use beef)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 lb. baby carrots (half a small bag) chopped; you can also use regular carrots
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup spinach
• 6 large mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas
• 1 cup of cut green beans, fresh or frozen
• 1 can low-sodium beef broth (otherwise things get really salty!)
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp flour

POTATO TOPPING*:

• 2 lb yukon gold potatoes, cut in 1.5″ chunks
• 1/4 cup ranch dressing
• Splash of milk
• 1/4 stick of butter
• 1 cup of frozen sweet white corn (the white corn is essential; it adds a sweetness that totally makes this recipe work!)
• 1/4 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef with onions and garlic and drain the grease. In the same pan, sauté all the vegetables. When the veggies are cooked through, add the can of beef broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire, and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the flour; this should thicken the sauce. Allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

While the sauce is cooking, make the mashed potatoes. I use a pressure cooker with 1 cup of water for 7–10 minutes at high pressure. Release the pressure and remove the potatoes. Mash with milk, butter, ranch and corn, adding salt or pepper to taste (I find it doesn’t need much when paired with the meat and sauce). The potatoes should be pretty thick.

Spoon the meat mixture into a large casserole, leaving a few inches at the top for the potatoes. Spoon the potatoes evenly over the tops of the casseroles and smooth it out. Shred some cheddar cheese over the top of the potatoes and bake for about 20 minutes. Turn on the broiler for the last few minutes if you’re feeling really adventurous!