Beef and Vegetable Potpie

So one day, I'm browsing Cooking Light Magazine's website - and got suckered into signing up for their offer of 3 free magazines to try before buying a year's subscription. As some of you might remember, I ordered their "Cooking Light's Annual Recipes 2006" cookbook a few months ago and simply fell in love with it. The book is chock full of good for you recipes that taste amazing. I had high expectations for the magazine and looked forward to receiving my first free copy.

Much to my chagrin, their magazine, in my humble opinion, is not worth the cover price of $4.50 per issue. Where it does include some awesome looking recipes, it's mostly a magazine full of advertising and lifestyle articles (but mostly advertising). There's nothing wrong with lifestyle articles - when I'm looking at a lifestyle magazine. And did I mention the advertising? Sheesh. I'll be cancelling the subscription and just keep buying their annual cookbooks.

But not all was lost with this first issue! From the smattering of featured recipes, I found several that I'd like to try including this recipe for Beef and Vegetable Potpie that I made for dinner last night. I think the picture is what caught my attention first. This potpie is not covered with a whole crust, but with a lattice of interwoven bread sticks found in the refrigerator section of your grocery store. It was quite pretty! The second thing that caught my eye was their use of zucchini in the potpie. I had 2 lil zucchini's in my fridge just waiting to be used up, so this was perfect.

This recipe turned out mighty tasty. Hearty and rustic, and right up Hubbs' alley. Although mine did not turn out as picture perfect as the magazine's picture, it was still quite lovely and something I'd like to make for company. Their recipe said that the potpie would fit into an 11" x 7" baking dish. Just by looking at the measurements for the ingredients I had my doubts.. after browning the ground sirloin and sauteing the vegetables I figure the author of the recipe might be a crack smoker. There was no way all of this was going to fit into such a small baking dish, so I took out the trusty 9" x 13" baking dish and it was filled almost to the top. I did double the sauce ingredients, as Hubbs really wanted me to make some elbow macaroni that he could stir into his, but even so - had I stayed with the original recipe it still would not have fit the baking dish called for. Just so's ya know if you decide to make this. ;) Another thing to keep in mind, before I share the recipe is this.. if you don't like cooking with wine do not pass this recipe up. Although the wine flavor was quite bold while it was simmering on my stovetop, after it had baked in the oven the wine melded with the beef stock and other ingredients and only lent a richness that was fabulous.

Hubbs' request for the elbow macaroni was actually quite good when I tasted his. So I think I'll switch this recipe up here and there and leave the bread sticks off and add the macaroni right to the potpie. Both variations were quite excellent.

Beef and Vegetable Potpie
Courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine

1 TBS. olive oil, divided
1 lb. ground sirloin
2 c. chopped zucchini
1 c. onion, chopped
1 c. chopped carrot
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried thyme (I used 3 small sprigs of fresh)
1 (8 oz.) package of presliced mushrooms (I used whole and gave them a rough chop)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c. dry red wine
1/4 c. tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 (14 oz.) can fat-free, less-sodium beef broth (I used regular beef stock, because it's what I had on hand)
2 TBS. cornstarch
2 TBS. water
Cooking spray
1 (11 oz.) can refrigerated soft breadstick dough

Preheat oven to 400º F.

Heat 1 1/2 tsp. oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add beef, cook 3 minutes or until browned (more like 7 minutes), stirring to crumble. Drain. Wipe drippings from pan with a paper towel. Heat remaining 1 1/2 tsp. oil in pan. Add zucchini and next 6 ingredients (through garlic); saute for 7 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Return beef to pan. Stir in wine, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and broth. Bring to a boil, cook 3 minutes. Combine cornstarch and 2 TBS water in a small bowl, stir with a whisk. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Spoon the beef mixture into an 11 x 7-inch (seriously - 9 x 13 inch!) coated with cooking spray. Separate breadstick dough into strips. Arrange strips in a lattice fashion over beef mixture. Bake at 400º for 12 minutes or until browned.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 c.)

*Note: This may be just me, but while tasting for seasoning while on my stovetop this needed salt. And my beef stock was not less-sodium. I added about 1 tsp. of kosher salt. Also the recipe above is the original recipe, not doubled.