Thursday, October 1, 2009

Fall Comfort Food!

Ready for the oven

It seems like this time of year we are just bombarded with zucchini and tomatoes and every other good thing from our gardens! I was not feeling well today and I just wanted to make something for dinner that would make me feel better and that would use some of my overabundance of produce. I found the most yummy recipe for Zucchini Hamburger Pie in one of my Taste of Home magazines and had to share.

Zucchini Hamburger Pie

Pastry for a double-crust pie (9 inches - I used a Pillsbury)
about 4 cups of diced zucchini (could use shredded for picky eaters)
1 pound of lean hamburger
1/2 cup of finely chopped green or red pepper
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (I used Panko)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 Tbls. dried chopped onion (or 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh onion)
1 tsp. each - salt, dried oregano and dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. garlic salt (I used granulated garlic)
2 med. tomatoes peeled and sliced

Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom pastry. Arrange half of the zucchini in pastry shell; set aside.
In a large skillet, cook beef and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain if necessary. Stir in the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, onion, salt, oregano, parsley and garlic. Spoon half over the zucchini; repeat layers. Arrange tomatoes over top.

Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; place over filling. Cut slits in top of pastry. Flute edges to seal. Bake at 350 for 60-65 min. or until golden brown. Let stand 5 min. before cutting. Enjoy! Yield: 6-8 servings.

This was a really good recipe and will probably be one of those that tastes better the second day. I usually like to put chili sauce or ketchup on things like this, but it was perfect just the way it was. Very delicious!


I just love to have shredded zucchini in the freezer for breads and pasta. I always freeze it in 3 cup portions - I think it shrinks a little in the freezer. Most recipes call for 2 cups shredded zucchini in a recipe and this works out perfect. When it thaws, it is always has a lot of liquid in the bag, but I always use it in whatever recipe I am making, because it is the liquid that was expelled from the zucchini anyway.

Happy eating - Love, Barb

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