Italian Meats and Poultry Recipes - Beef and Spinach Pie

Ingredients

• 12 ounces lean ground beef

• 3/4 cup chopped red and/or yellow sweet pepper

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 cup water

• 6-ounce can Italian-style tomato paste

• 4-ounce can (drained weight) sliced mushrooms, drained

• 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, crushed

• 1 10-ouhce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained

• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (3 ounces)

• 2/3 cup light or regular ricotta cheese

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 baked 9-inch pastry shell*

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Method:

1. Preheat oven to 3S0°F. In a large skillet cook beef, sweet pepper, and garlic until meat is brown and sweet pepper is tender.

2. Stir in the water, tomato paste, mushrooms, and Italian seasoning. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl stir together spinach, 1/4 cup of the mozzarella cheese, the ricotta cheese, and salt.

4. Spoon spinach mixture into baked pastry shell. Top with meat mixture. Cover edge of pastry with foil to prevent over browning.

5. Bake for 30 to 3S minutes or until heated through. Remove foil. Top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Note: For a baked pastry shell, bake one 9-inch frozen unbaked deep-dish pastry shell according to package directions. Or prepare and bake 1 folded refrigerated unbaked piecrust (half of a 15-ounce package) according to package directions.