French Meat Pie

I absolutely love this meat pie-it's the ultimate comfort food!  The recipe originally called for a pound of ground pork, along with the beef.  I wanted to be a little more health conscious though, so I used 2 pounds of lean ground beef.  Since you don't have the extra fat from the pork, you can simply add about 1/4 cup of beef bouillon to the meat mixture to moisten it up a bit.  This reminds me of a delicious beef pastie, but it's much simpler to make.  You could even use rutabaga in place of the potato.   I've frozen this in the past, and it was just as yummy!  Just cover tightly with a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil and use within a month.  Bake as directed, but you'll have to increase your baking time.

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 pounds ground beef
1 cup mashed potatoes (I used 2 cups)
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a large skillet, heat onion in the canola oil over medium-heat.  Saute onion until tender.  Remove to a small bowl and set aside.  Brown beef in the same skillet, drain well; now combine onion with the cooked beef, mashed potatoes and seasonings.  Line a 9-inch pie pan with pastry; fill with meat filling, and top with crust.  Seal and flute edges.  Make slits in top of crust.  Brush with beaten egg.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, until top is golden brown.