Creamy Beef Pot Pie

This creamy-savory pot pie is a dressed-up version of one of my Mom's economical comfort foods. When I was a kid, there were never any leftovers when she made this for dinner. Recently I was craving that old-time meal, so we turned out the vegetable bin and whipped up this fabulous casserole.

There were leftovers, but I had them for lunch the next day.

Ingredients

1 pound very lean ground beef (you can use lean ground turkey if you prefer)

1 cup white onion, chopped

1 cup carrot, peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 red pepper, seeded and chopped

1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp thyme

1 1/3 cups fat-free milk

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

1 tube Pillsbury Crescent Rounds

Directions

Crumble the meat into a frying pan and cook until completely browned. Drain off the fat and set the meat aside. In the same pan, saute all the vegetables and thyme until tender. Add the meat back to the pan and keep warm.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk until bubbles form at the edge. Slowly whisk in the flour, cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until thickened to the consistency of gravy, about 10-15 minutes. If it gets too thick, add a bit more milk. Off heat, stir in the sour cream. Stir the sauce into the meat mixture, and pour it into a 9x12 casserole pan.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Open the crescent rounds and unroll them onto a cutting board. They should pull apart into long strips; cut 1/3 of these strips in half. Starting in one corner of the casserole pan, lay one long strip along the long side and a short strip along the short side. Begin alternating the long and short strips, laying them over and under to form a basket weave (a helper is very useful during the weaving!).

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the filling is hot and bubbly.

Serves 4-6.