This easy ground beef pie features ground beef and hash brown potatoes seasoned with a moroccan-inspired spice blend. Add a homemade or store bought pie crust for a dinner your family will love!
⅛ to ¼teaspoon(¼teaspoon)cayenne pepper, or to taste
Topping
1tablespoon(15grams)mayonnaise
2tablespoons(30grams)sesame seeds, optional
sour cream, for garnish
Instructions
Prepare a pie crust for a double crust pie. Spray a 9-inch pie pan with baking spray. Ease one of the pie dough portions into a 9-inch pie pan and chill while you make the filling, and refrigerate the second pie dough portion.
Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Whisk the ingredients for the spice mix together in a small bowl.
In a large skillet, heat the ghee on medium-high heat. Add the onions, sprinkled with ½ teaspoon salt, and sweat them until they start to soften, about 2 to 3 minutes. Toss in the garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant. Add the ground beef to the onion mixture, break up, and cook until brown, about 10 minutes. Drain the mixture well.
Place the hash browns in the pan, chopping them up if they’re in a patty form. Cook the mixture 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the parsley and/or cilantro (if using) and the spice mix until well blended. Gradually pour in the beef stock. Lower the heat and simmer the filling an additional 5 minutes or until it starts to look a little dry, stirring occasionally.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture cool for about 5 minutes.
Spoon the filling into the pie dough-lined pan. Top with the second dough portion, then trim and seal the edges, crimping the edges as desired. Cut slits in several places to allow for steam to escape. Brush mayonnaise over the top crust and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using.
Bake on lower rack for 40 to 50 minutes or until the crust is dark golden brown (shield the edges if they’re browning too quickly).
Let pie stand for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with sour cream if desired, and enjoy!
Storage instructions: The cooled pie can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container, for up to 7 days. For longer storage, freeze the baked pie until firm on a cookie sheet, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in an airtight bag. Defrost overnight to thaw, then rewarm at 350 °F for about 30 minutes minutes or until hot.
Make ahead instructions: The filling can be made ahead. Allow to cool to room temperature, then store, covered up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Alternatively, you can assemble the whole pie, making sure filling comes to room temperature before adding the top crust. Refrigerate, tightly wrapped with plastic wrap, until ready to bake later. Allow the chilled pie to sit on the counter while the oven is pre-heating.
Notes
You can substitute ¼ teaspoon garlic powder for the minced garlic. The same is true for the parsley and cilantro - substitute 2½ tablespoons dry parsley and 1 teaspoon dry cilantro. Add these substitutions into the spice mix. Or, you can omit the parsley and/or cilantro can be omitted if your family doesn't like either or both of them.I use paper towels to drain the fat away. Just push the filling to one side and tilt the pan so you can mop up the liquid with several paper towels. Use tongs to remove the soaked towels to the trash.