Sloppy Joe Casserole

A friend had a FB post about a casserole based on the 'messy burger' called Sloppy Joes. I read the recipe, which she had copied from another post. The ingredients looked to sweet for our family's taste, so I created my own version.



What you need:  for the meat layer -  750 gr lean ground beef; 1/2 cup finely chopped onion; 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced;  1 can , 540 ml, of crushed tomatoes; 1 can, 540 ml, of diced tomatoes and spicy red peppers; 1 package of Sloppy Joe seasoning mix, water, salt and pepper.
For the top crust layer.: 3 cups flour - I used 2 cups white and 1 cup whole wheat, but you can put any kind of flour, even GF flours; +_ 1/2 cup shortening; 3/4 tsp salt; 1 T bs baking powder; 1 and 1/3 cup milk; 1-2 cups of grated cheddar cheese.



What you do: cook the ground beef with the salt and pepper until it is no longer pink. Add the onion and garlic, with the seasoning mix. Stir well. Add the 2 cans of tomato, and a little water to completely empty the cans. Let this mixture simmer for about 20 minutes.
Turn the oven on to 400*F.
In a large bowl mix the flour , salt, and baking powder. Add the shortening, and cut in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the grated cheese, in small batches, stirring so the cheese gets coated with flour. Add the first cup of milk, and stir. Add extra milk as needed to make a dough which is easy to handle.

Turn the meat mixture into a  9 x 13 baking dish. Cover with pieces of the dough, ( I just picked up a small handful, and shaped it to put on top of one corner of the pan, and continued doing that until the whole top was covered.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve with a salad, or veggie of your choice - or as Luc's choice none at all.


As always, enjoy.