Beef Potpie Wedges

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• One 2/3 pound pice skirt steak or flat-iron steak, thinly sliced on an angle and cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 8 white mushroom caps, sliced
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 package (2 pieces) prepared piecrust
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the steak and cook until browned, 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the butter to the skillet to melt, then add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring, for one minute. stir in the beef stock, peas and Worcestershire sauce. Return the meat to the pan and cook until the sauce thickens and the peas heat through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; remove from heat.

2. Unroll the piecrusts and halve them. Divide the cooled meat mixture among the four piecrust pieces, placing a mount on one side of each piece andleaving a small border. Brush the edges of each piecrust piece with some of the egg. Fold the pastry over to enclose the filling, pressing down on the edges; crimp with a fork. Brush the tops of the dough with more of the egg and transfer the pies to a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about ten minutes.

Source: Rachael Ray/March 2010

My notes:

1. I used lean ground beef in place of the steak and it worked very well.
2. The mixture can be used as the base of a shepherd's pie. If you do this, you will want to double the recipe (save for the pie crust) and add chopped carrots (1/2-1 cup). Top mixture with mashed potatoes and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
3. Next time I make this, I will experiment with making this as a traditional pot pie, rather than the wedges. It seemed like a lot of work to make individual wedges for our family.

Pasta with Chicken Sausage & Broccoli

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces rigatoni
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 6 ounces fully cooked chicken sausage links, sliced (I like chicken & apple sausage)
• 1 small head broccoli, cut into florets
• 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions
2. Meanwhile, heat the oli in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onlion, stirring often, for three minutes. Add the sausage and cook, stirring until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broccoli and 1 1/4 cups water and simmer, covered, until the broccoli is tender, 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Toss the pasta with the sausage mixture and any remaining liquid and the Parmesan.

Source: Real Simple/September 2009

My notes:
I use about half the pasta in the recipe and double the sausage. I steam the broccoli while the onions and sausage are cooking, add a little of the water I steamed the broccoli in along with the broccoli to the onion/sausage mixture. Then I throw in the cooked pasta and toss it all together with the cheese. Also, I like to use chicken and apple sausage.

The boys aren't big fans of this, but I love it!