Spinach Beef Pie — Something Hearty for the Season of Letting Go

I drove to Grinnell Saturday. Roger was in the garden — the garden that is his whole world now, the 83-year-old man who tends six tomato plants and twelve sunflowers with the same care he once gave four hundred acres. He's slower but he's still Roger. He still watches the crop reports. He still calls Jack on Wednesdays.

Thursday was tater tot hotdish, because Thursday is always tater tot hotdish and the schedule doesn't change for anything — not pandemics, not loss, not the passage of years. The tater tots go in at 375 and come out golden and the family eats them and the eating is the Thursday and the Thursday is the structure and the structure holds. But I also made chicken and dumplings earlier this week, because the kitchen doesn't only look backward. The kitchen grows.

The garden winding down. Corn stalks brown and leaning. Last peppers picked before frost. Jack's garlic going in — the patience crop, planted now for next July. Nine months underground. The faith that the future needs what the present plants.

Driving home from Grinnell with the brown cornfields scrolling past the window, I kept thinking about what it means to feed people through a season of winding down — not melancholy, just honest. Roger’s garden is putting itself to bed, and the right meal for that kind of day isn’t fussy or loud. I made this Spinach Beef Pie because it’s the kind of dish that holds its shape, fills the table, and asks nothing of you except to sit down and eat it — which is exactly what this family needed after a long Saturday on the road.

Spinach Beef Pie

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1 unbaked 9-inch deep-dish pie crust

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Place the unbaked pie crust in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and set aside.
2. Brown the beef. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook ground beef and chopped onion until beef is no longer pink and onion is softened, about 8–10 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Drain excess fat.
3. Combine the filling. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in squeezed spinach, beaten eggs, cottage cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and oregano until evenly combined.
4. Fill the crust. Spoon the beef and spinach mixture into the prepared pie crust, spreading it evenly to the edges.
5. Bake. Bake uncovered at 375°F for 35–40 minutes, until the filling is set in the center and the crust is golden brown. If the crust edges brown too quickly, cover them loosely with foil.
6. Rest and serve. Let the pie rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 24g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 560mg