St. Paddy’s Day dinner idea – Beef & Stout Skillet

Hearty Stout-Spiked Beef and Veggie Skillet Topped with Easy Pastry Crust

Regardless of your heritage, you can be a wee bit Irish on St. Paddy’s day with a hearty serving of this Beef and Stout Skillet for dinner! I love the fact that this recipe uses ready made pie crust and butternut squash instead of potatoes. If you prefer a nonalcoholic version of this recipe for the family dinner, you can swap the stout for beef broth.

This is a fairly inexpensive and quick recipe, especially if you go the frozen squash route. Based on my research on-line, there are a few different brands of frozen squash available. Some of the more familiar brands are –  Archer Farms, Birds Eye and Earthbound Farms Organic.

I needed fresh squash for another recipe,  so I included prep instructions for using fresh in the notes section of this recipe. Cooking Tip – this method for peeling fresh squash is so much easier than trying to peel raw squash. Give it a try next time you need to peel a fresh squash for any recipe!

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Beef & Stout Skillet

Hearty Stout-Spiked Beef and Veggie Skillet Topped with Easy Pastry Crust

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Resting Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 4

Author: Women’s Day Recipe January 25, 2015

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. Lean Ground Beef
• 4 oz. small shiitake mushrooms or other mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• ½ c. coarsely chopped onion use sweet onion if available
• 1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
• 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 8 oz. stout I used Guinness – if you want a nonalcoholic version, use beef broth, for a total of 1 1/2 cups in the recipe
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar decrease to 1.5 teaspoons if using beef broth vs. stout
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar decrease to 1.5 teaspoons if using beef broth vs. stout
• 2 c. frozen butternut squash pieces see note for directions on how to use fresh squash if frozen is not avalable
• 1 c. frozen peas
• 1 refrigerated rolled pie crust
• 1 large egg

Instructions

• Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat the oil in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the beef, mushrooms, onions, salt and pepper, and cook, breaking up the beef with a spoon, until browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Spoon off and discard any fat.
• Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the thyme, then sprinkle with the flour and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.
• Add the stout (or all the beef broth) and simmer until the liquid has thickened, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup beef broth (if using stout), brown sugar and balsamic vinegar and bring to a simmer. Add the squash and peas, return to a simmer, then remove from heat. (This whole step takes only 2 to 3 minutes total.)
• Unroll the pastry on a cutting board, brush with the egg, then cut a cross in the center. Lay the dough on top of the beef mixture (egg-side up), gently pressing the edges around the inside of the skillet. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

Prep for fresh squash – cut both ends off butternut squash (about 1/4 – 1/2″), poke holes all over with fork and microwave for 4 minutes. When cool enough to handle, use vegetable peeler to remove skin, cut in half and scoop out seeds, then cut into 1 inch pieces. Place in bowl and cover with paper plate or loose saran wrap and microwave another minute or two until squash becomes just tender enough to pierce with fork. Complete this step prior to adding squash to the recipe with peas. Adapted from Women’s Day January 24, 2015 recipe