This 1960s Pie Used Ground Beef In A Very Unusual Way
When we think of pies, we often focus on the filling first. Apple pie, blueberry pie, pecan pie, and even savory recipes like cheesy spinach tarts and chicken pot pie highlight the center of the dish.
“And you'll make the savory filling double-quick — but only with Hunt's Tomato Sauce and Minute Rice,”
The beef mixture is pressed into a pie plate to create a unique crust that holds the filling, which is essentially cheesy tomato rice. As the beef layer bakes, it keeps the rice-forward center in and traps all the flavors. After about 25 minutes in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven, the result is an open-faced meat pie more closely aligned with a casserole. Although once the generous sprinkles of cheddar cheese bubble up on top, it almost feels like another pseudo alternative to pastry crust. If it weren't for Better Homes and Gardens dubbing it the country pie and the final recipe instructions noting "Cut into pie-shaped pieces," readers might not have even considered this beefy baked dish a pie at all.
This retro country pie recipe started as a marketing campaign
There are plenty of obscure recipes floating around vintage magazines and dated cookbooks, but only a select few caught on enough to prevail in this century. Shepherd's pie comes close to the same vicinity as meat crust pie with its stewed beef bottom layer, but few modern recipes utilize meat in this way. Better Homes and Gardens positioned country pie as a quick, mindless dinner made with ingredients that folks likely already had on their grocery list. But the fact that it hasn't really stood the test of time and shows no sign of a comeback probably means it's not as tasty as a more traditional savory pie recipe.
