Mexican Dinner Aka Taco Pie

I've been making this for my family for over 25 years, it came from the LLLI cookbook, Whole Foods for the Whole family. The original recipe calls for beans, I have never used them as I can't stand them, so I have included them as optional. This is a very kid friendly recipe, and easier for them to eat then hard shell tacos. It is NOT very spicy, if you like it spicy add more hot sauce, some green chilies, more cumin, etc. Pepper jack on top would also spice it up some more. The crust is very different, more bread or biscuit - like not at all like a regular pie crust. When you spoon it in the pan is will seem all gooey and you'll wonder how it works.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• Crust

• 1⁄2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 cup shortening
• 1⁄2 cup sour cream or 1⁄2 cup buttermilk or 1⁄2 cup yogurt or 1⁄2 cup  sour half-and-half
• 1  egg

• Filling

• 1  lb lean ground beef
• 1⁄2 cup onion, chopped
• 2  teaspoons chili powder
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2  cups kidney beans, cooked (optional)

• Toppings

•  chopped lettuce
•  diced tomato
•  grated cheddar cheese
•  sour cream
•  salsa
•  sliced black olives

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease and flour a 9" or 10" pie pan (not deep dish) or spray w/non stick cooking spray.
2. Crust:
3. Combine the crust ingredients, stir until blended, batter will be lumpy.
4. Pour into prepared pie dish. Spread batter thinly to within 1/4 inch of the rim - sometimes it likes to slide down, adding the filling will push it back up some.
5. Filling:
6. Brown the beef and chopped onion together then drain.
7. Stir in all the other ingredients, mix well then spoon into crust.
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
9. Let cool for few minutes, serve with your favorite toppings.
10. Note: The original recipe called for buttermilk, or plain yougurt, or sour half and half, I misread it the first time I made it and used sour cream, it worked so it's what I had always used, but I finally tried it with buttermilk and it was great.