As common as I thought this was, Jason had never heard of this or ate it. I told him it was meat and potatoes so he agreed to try it. Mom made this while I was growing up and although this isn't her recipe, it's still yummy. Plus, you get to cheat and buy the steam and mash potatoes. If you haven't tried them yet, please do and don't worry about the guilt of not boiling your own potatoes and wearing your arms out mashing away. You'll still get a little workout here. :-)
For the caramelized onions:
1 Tbl olive oil
1 tsp butter
1 1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
For the filling:
1 Tbl olive oil
1 lb ground beef
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 cup beef broth (or as needed)
1 Tbl flour (or as needed)
For the topping:
1 bag of steam and mash potatoes--or--
if you want to be difficult, 3 large potatoes cooked and mashed
What to do:
For onions, heat oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and salt and cook for 5-7 minutes until translucent. Reduce to low and add water, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Continue to stir. Remove the cover, turn to medium and stir. Continue to cook until the water is gone and onions are brown. Move to a bowl.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 8x8 dish if you like it thick, but I preferred the 13 x 9.
For the filling, add olive oil to the same pan over medium heat. Add beef and drain. Add onions, thyme, pepper, prasely and beef stock. Add salt to taste.
Add flour, reduce to low for 3-5 minutes. Add more flour or stock. This is your gravy.
Put in casserole dish and spread mashed potatoes on top. Cook for 25 minutes or until bubbly on the sides.
An all in one dish! Yummy!
