A savory meat and Potato pie with a top crust
I’ve been in a pie making mood lately. So I invested in a glass pie dish to make it official. Now it can be pie o’clock any time.
I started my pie adventures with savory pies. A while back I made a “meatza pie” with lamb crust and cheese and tomato sauce filling/topping (the recipe is below). It was so good that it inspired me to buy the pie dish and keep experimenting.
My next attempt at pie was more ambitious. It was dairy-free and had a top crust made out of yuca. It also featured a lamb “crust” on the bottom and the filling was made from mashed sweet potatoes topped with bacon. There was something so fun about meat and potatoes in pie form.
My creation is a savory take on sweet potato pie and I ate a slice for breakfast every morning until it was gone. It heats up great in the toaster oven and is extremely filling. I looked forward to getting up every morning. Of course you can eat this for lunch or dinner too.
And I documented the whole process in photos.
Breakfast sweet potato lamb pie
The Ingredients
Almost fully assembled
Yuca crust on top
Baked and ready to eat
Ingredients
Meat crust (bottom)
1/2 pound of ground lamb molded into a pie crust on a greased pie dish
Yuca crust (top)
1/2 cup of yuca mixed with 1 Tablespoon of oil and 1 Tablespoon of tapioca, arrowroot or coconut flour
Filling
One large or two medium sweet potatoes mashed
Chives
1 teaspoon of salt
Coconut oil or ghee or fat of choice
2 slices of raw bacon
Optional: I put a layer of a tomato eggplant dip I had recently made (recipe coming soon) between the meat and potatoes. But you can easily leave this ingredient out without missing much.
How to
Bake the sweet potato(es) for one hour at 350, until easily pierced through with a fork. Peel them and mash them with coconut oil, salt and chives. Set aside.
Peel and bake yuca (here’s a video that explains how). Or buy some canned yuca here.
Mix mashed yuca with oil and flour and mold the dough into a big flat circle with your hands on top of baking parchment paper. If you don’t have any yuca, you can skip this step or use your favorite Paleo bread dough instead. Bake the yuca crust for 20 to 25 minutes at 350.
Mold ground lamb into the shape of a pie crust onto a greased pie dish.
I spread a thin layer of a tomato eggplant dip on top of the lamb but you can leave this step out. I usually add leftovers from other dishes to my current dishes and this is just an example of how I do that. The pie will taste wonderful without the eggplant.
Scoop the mashed sweet potato filling on top of the lamb crust.
Add two slices of raw bacon on top of the mashed sweet potato filling. This will infuse the potatoes with bacon flavor as it cooks. Feel free to leave out the bacon if it’s not your thing.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 35 minutes. In the last 10 minutes take the pie out of the oven, put on the prebaked yuca top crust and put back in the oven.
That’s it. Your dish is ready to serve. Just wait for it to cool a bit (15 minutes) before you slice it. Enjoy anytime. As I mentioned, this reheats beautifully.
- Meat crust (bottom)
- ½ pound of ground lamb molded into a pie crust on a greased pie dish
- Yuca crust (top)
- ½ cup of yuca mixed with 1 Tablespoon of oil and 1 Tablespoon of tapioca, arrowroot or coconut flour
- Filling
- One large or two medium sweet potatoes mashed
- Chives
- Coconut oil or ghee or fat of choice1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 slices of raw bacon
- Optional: I put in a layer of a tomato eggplant dip I made (recipe coming soon) but you can leave this ingredient out
- Bake the sweet potato(es) for one hour at 350, until easily pierced through with a fork. Peel them and mash them with coconut oil, salt and chives. Set aside.
- Peel and bake yuca (here is how). Mix mashed yuca with oil and flour and mold the dough into a big circle with your hands on top of baking parchment paper. If you don't have any yuca, you can skip this step or use your favorite Paleo bread dough instead. Bake the yuca crust for 20 to 25 minutes at 350.
- Mold ground lamb into the shape of a pie crust onto a greased pie dish.
- I spread a thin layer of a tomato eggplant dip on top of the lamb but leave this step out if you want to make this dish nightshade free.
- Scoop the mashed sweet potato filling on top of the lamb crust.
- Add two slices of raw bacon on top of the mashed sweet potato filling. This will infuse the potatoes with bacon flavor as it cooks. Feel free to leave out the bacon if that's not your thing.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 35 minutes. In the last 10 minutes take the pie out of the oven, put on the prebaked yuca top crust and put back in the oven.
- Your dish is ready to serve. Just wait for it to cool a bit (15 minutes) before you slice it. Enjoy anytime. This reheats (and even freezes) beautifully.
Bonus RECIPE: Deep Dish cheese LAMB & Tomato Pie
I day dreamed about this dish before I made it. Pizza and pie had been on my mind and I wasn’t in the mood for cauliflower crust. I wanted deep dish pizza with lots of fresh, chunky tomato sauce.
I came up with an idea that marries the concept of pie and pizza together. It wasn’t very pretty, but it did not disappoint.
The crust is also made from half a pound of ground lamb (you can use any ground meat you like).
Before pressing the lamb into the pie tin I lined the sides with 2 bacon slices, to prevent sticking and delivered more flavor.
The filling was a thick, chunky, homemade marinara sauce with veggies and a tiny bit of oxtail meat (I had some laying around after making bone broth).
I pre-baked the crust for 20 minutes at 350 then took it out of the oven and filled sauce (the thicker the better), and topped it with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. The cheese is not necessary in this dish, as it’s full of fat and rich flavor already, but it did satisfy my pizza craving.
My biggest piece of advice is to wait for it to cool on the counter for 15 minutes before slicing into it. As you can see, I was too impatient and sliced it right out of the oven. It was a sloppy but delicious mess.
If you wait for it to cool, your meatza pie will hold together better when you slice it.
Like an actual pizza, you can personalize your marinara sauce to your taste. If you like mushrooms, olives or peperoni on your pizza, just chop them finely and add to your sauce.
This dish calls out for personalization, like a pizza does.
Ingredients
The “crust”
One pound of ground lamb ( I would use half a pound if you want thinner crust)1 pastured egg
2 bacon slices (rashers)
The sauce
1 tablespoon of olive oil
10 ounces of crushed tomatoes from a jar. I only use these crushed tomatoes from a jar because canned tomatoes can leach bad stuff into the tomatoes.
1/2 a chopped onion
2 chopped garlic cloves or garlic powder to taste
Fresh or dried oregano
Salt to taste
The meatza “toppings” (You can substitute your favorite pizza toppings)
1/2 cup of chopped cabbage
5 romaine lettuce leaves
1/2 a cup of oxtail meat.
Optional: 1/2 a cup of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
How to
Line the sides of your pie tin or glass pie dish with bacon. If you don’t have either, you can use a shallow 8×8 baking dish to make a square meatza pie. If you are concerned about the lamb sticking, grease the bottom of the pan with a little bit of coconut oil or healthy fat of choice.
Using your hands, mold the ground lamb (beef will work also) into a crust shape that’s molded to your pie tin. Try to make it as even as possible but don’t obsess about getting it perfect.
Put the pie crust to bake into a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Once the “crust” is done prebaking, you might want to carefully pour some of the grease and water from under the crust out into the sink or trash, but make sure to hold the crust so it doesn’t fall out as you pour out some of the grease. Use a dish towel so you don’t burn your hands.
In a pan saute some onions in olive oil. When the onions begin to turn translucent, add fresh or powdered garlic and saute for a few minutes.
Add the crushed or strained tomatoes. If your sauce is thick like paste like mine was, add a little bit of bone broth or water to thin out. If your sauce is too thin or watery, simmer it on medium low heat to evaporate some of the water and thicken the sauce. Remember, when you slice the pie, you don’t want watery sauce to spill everywhere.
Add in the chopped veggies/toppings to the sauce and cook until they soften. Add oregano, salt and any other herbs or spice you like in your pizza sauce.
Spoon the sauce into your pre-baked meat crust. Sprinkle cheese on top and put back in the oven for 15 minutes at 40o degrees. If your crust is thinner than mine was you might want to cut the baking time down to 10 minutes.
Let the meatza pie cool before slicing through it. Use a sharp knife and hold onto the pie tin so it doesn’t slide while slicing. That’s it.
My husband and I ate the whole pie in one sitting. It was meatza heaven. He said that the dish reminded him of a meaty lasagna.
If you make either of these recipes post a photo on Facebook or Instagram and tag me (@Doityourselfhealth for FB and @Paleokitchenlab on Instagram).
- The “crust”
- One pound of ground lamb ( I would use half a pound if you want thinner crust)1 pastured egg
- 2 bacon slices (rashers)
- The sauce
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 10 ounces of crushed tomatoes from a jar. I only use these crushed tomatoes from a jar because canned tomatoes can leach bad stuff into the tomatoes.
- ½ a chopped onion
- 2 chopped garlic cloves or garlic powder to taste
- Fresh or dried oregano
- Salt to taste
- The meatza “toppings” (You can substitute your favorite pizza toppings)
- ½ cup of chopped cabbage
- 5 romaine lettuce leaves
- ½ a cup of oxtail meat.
- Optional: ½ a cup of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
- Line the sides of your pie tin or glass pie dish with bacon. If you don’t have either, you can use a shallow 8×8 baking dish to make a square meatza pie. If you are concerned about the lamb sticking, grease the bottom of the pan with a little bit of coconut oil or healthy fat of choice.
- Using your hands, mold the ground lamb (beef will work also) into a crust shape that’s molded to your pie tin. Try to make it as even as possible but don’t obsess about getting it perfect.
- Put the pie crust to bake into a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Once the “crust” is done prebaking, you might want to carefully pour some of the grease and water from under the crust out into the sink or trash, but make sure to hold the crust so it doesn’t fall out as you pour out some of the grease. Use a dish towel so you don’t burn your hands.
- In a pan saute some onions in olive oil. When the onions begin to turn translucent, add fresh or powdered garlic and saute for a few minutes.
- Add the crushed or strained tomatoes. If your sauce is thick like paste like mine was, add a little bit of bone broth or water to thin out. If your sauce is too thin or watery, simmer it on medium low heat to evaporate some of the water and thicken the sauce. Remember, when you slice the pie, you don’t want watery sauce to spill everywhere.
- Add in the chopped veggies/toppings to the sauce and cook until they soften. Add oregano, salt and any other herbs or spice you like in your pizza sauce.
- Spoon the sauce into your pre-baked meat crust. Sprinkle cheese on top and put back in the oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. If your crust is thinner than mine was you might want to cut the baking time down to 10 minutes.
- Let the meatza pie cool before slicing through it. Use a sharp knife and hold onto the pie tin so it doesn’t slide while slicing.
