Beef Pot Pie

I'm a huge fan of pot pies. Usually they are so bad for you and make such big servings that they just aren't worth eating to me.  But now, NOW I've found a recipe that 1) can be lightened up and 2) makes enough for two large-sh servings.

This was super easy and I'm feeling motivated to make this again. I put mine in little individual dishes and topped them with store bought pie crust.  If you're not a pie crust snob, take the short cut and buy the pie crust. 

Courtesy of One Lovely Life

Beef Pot Pie
Serves 2

12 oz blade steak, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces [JW note - I used a top sirloin steak cuz that's what I had on hand.]
5 tsp vegetable oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 oz white mushrooms, quartered
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp minced fresh thyme
2 T flour
2 tsp tomato paste
2 T dry red wine
1 3/4 c beef broth
1/2 c peas
Pie crust

Pat the meat dry and season with salt and pepper.  Heat 2 tsp of the oil in an oven safe skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the meat and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 5-7 minutes. Transfer the meat to a bowl and set aside.

Heat remaining 1T oil in the skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the carrots, onion and cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the mushrooms and cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in the flour and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour is incorporated, about 1 minute.  [JW note - I put the tomato paste in first and cooked it for about a minute. Then I added the flour.] Stir in the wine and cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds. slowly stir in the broth, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to a simmer.

Off heat, season the sauce with salt and pepper. Then stir in the browned beef, along with any accumulated juices, and the peas.

Put the beef mixture in a Pyrex dish that will fit it [JW - again, I used two small single serving dishes.] Cover with pie crust.  Bake at 425 for 30 to 35 minutes until the pie crust is golde nbrown.

The other adjustment I made was I added some corn I had on hand.  You can't go wrong with adding a little bit of corn.