Taco Pie with Potato Crust

Picture borrowed from here

Tonight's dinner is adapted from a recipe I found many years ago in the newspaper.  The picture looked so good and I couldn't believe the crust was made from potato flakes so I clipped it out and it has been sitting in my cookbook ever since.  I've been meaning to make it for a very long time and tonight was the night!

Taco Pie with Potato Flake Crust

-serves 6-8

2 Tb. Butter

2/3 cup Milk

2 1/4 cups Mashed Potato Flakes

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup diced onion

1 package Taco Seasoning
1/2 cup Tomato Paste (or tomato soup)

Shredded cheese

Shredded lettuce

Taco Toppings: salsa, guacamole, olives, onions, etc.

 -Melt butter in sauce pan and remove from heat.  Add milk and whisk in 2 Tb of dry taco mix.

-Stir dry mashed potato flakes into milk.  Mixture should be moist, not wet, and look something like oatmeal.

 

-Press mixture into the bottom of a greased pie pan.

-Brown ground beef and onions and drain fat.  Add remaining taco seasoning and 1/2 cup of tomato sauce.

-Spoon beef mixture into prepared potato crust and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes until crust is brown around the edges.

-Removed from oven and add shredded cheese to top while pie is still hot.

-Let pie sit for 5 minutes allowing cheese to melt (you may need to return the pie to oven for a few minutes to help the cheese melt)

-Add toppings just before serving so lettuce won't wilt with heat.  I let each person add their own toppings since not everyone likes sour cream or salsa.   

Enjoy!