By Week 412. Winter 2024. I am 41 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like soup and bread and this is my life. This is the life I built.
The garden is sleeping under mulch, resting for spring, and I stood in it this week and thought about dirt and time and the way both of them turn nothing into something if you're patient enough.
Mason is 13 and navigating middle school with the quiet competence that has always been his way — focused, kind, certain of who he is in a way that took me thirty years to achieve.
Lily is 11 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.
I made meatloaf this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.
Meatloaf was what I actually made, but when I went looking for the recipe that captured the feeling of that week — something hearty and grounding, something built from the humble ingredients you always have on hand — this beef hash brown pizza is what called to me. It’s the kind of food that doesn’t ask anything of you except to show up and make it, the kind that fills a kitchen with warmth and fills a table with people who matter. That’s exactly what Week 412 felt like: nothing spectacular, just good and solid and mine.
Beef Hash Brown Pizza
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 3 cups frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 cup pizza sauce or marinara
- 1/2 medium green bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a 12-inch round pizza pan or a large rimmed baking sheet.
- Make the hash brown crust. Squeeze as much moisture as possible from the thawed hash browns using a clean kitchen towel. In a bowl, combine hash browns, egg, 1/4 cup cheddar, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Mix well and press firmly and evenly onto the prepared pan to form a crust about 1/4 inch thick.
- Par-bake the crust. Bake for 15–18 minutes until the edges are golden and the crust feels set and lightly crisp. Remove from oven.
- Cook the beef. While the crust bakes, brown ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it apart as it cooks, about 7–8 minutes. Drain excess fat. Season with Italian seasoning.
- Assemble the pizza. Spread pizza sauce evenly over the par-baked crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Top with cooked ground beef, diced bell pepper, onion, and olives if using. Sprinkle remaining cheddar and all of the mozzarella evenly over the top.
- Bake. Return to oven and bake an additional 12–15 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly and edges of the crust are deep golden brown.
- Rest and slice. Let the pizza rest for 5 minutes before slicing into wedges. Serve warm.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 380 | Protein: 24g | Fat: 21g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 540mg