I love pot pies on a cold day. The following recipe is just a simple pot pie I came up with. It's hearty, filling, and the crust is divine. If you are nervous about making the crust, please feel free to buy a pre-made crust.

Step 1: Ingredients.

Crust:

1 cup flour

3 Tbsp real butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cold water

Filling:

1/2 lbs. lean hamburger

1/3 cup rice

Seasonings, i.e. salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

Optional: fresh onion and garlic.

Note, I only noticed when I uploaded this I had forgotten to put the mushroom soup in the picture... whoops.

Step 2: Make the Filling

Brown the hamburger meat in a skillet and set aside. This is a good time to season the meat to your liking. I always use onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper.

Note; I like use lean meat, so draining isn't generally necessary. Fattier meat will produce a lot of excess oil you will want to drain off.

Boil your rice according to instructions on the package. You want it be done, but not overcooked.

Combine the rice, hamburger, and mushroom soup and stir well. You may need to add a little bit of water to thin the filling out, but don't go crazy.

Note; Sorry for the lack of picture of this stage, I was juggling kids and cooking. Never an easy combination.

Step 3: Make the Crust

This is one of the easiest crusts to make.

In this stage, a pastry cutter is your best friend (if you aren't familiar, it's the rounded tool I'm using in the picture)

Combine the flour, and (cold) butter in a bowl and chop/mix with your cutter. You have it right when there are no large chunks of butter and the mix is fairly smooth. Add the cold water at this stage and mix well.

When the dough is mixed, turn it out onto a floured work surface and roll it out. You want it fairly thin (1/8 inch) otherwise it won't cook well.

Transfer it into your greased pie pan (9") and trim the edges. You want to leave a little bit of an edge for the upper crust to attach to.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Note: The easiest way to transfer the crust is to fold it in half and lay it in the pan. Then unfold and press into place.

Step 4: Fill and Bake

Now, pour your filling into the bottom crust. Smooth it out as best you can.

Roll out the remaining dough into a thin layer (again, about 1/8 inch).

Transfer the crust onto your pie. Roll the edges into place and press down with a fork to seal the pie. If you like, now is also the time to make a few slits in the top of the pie.

Place your pie in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remember, the filling is already cooked, this is mainly to get that crust the way you want it.

Note: Just before taking the pie out, I like to turn the oven up to BROIL to toast the crust. If you choose to do this, stay right there! Broiling will only take 2-3 minutes to give you that golden brown crust. Too long and you will burn it!

Take it out of the oven and let it cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting.

Thanks for reading and enjoy!