Tamale Pie

I have posted this recipe before, but it was in the crockpot. This time I did it in the oven.
We still have the rain/cold going here in Forks..I mean, Texas- so I wanted to do another cold weather favorite. I have made this several times before, but always in the crockpot. Yesterday was grocery shopping day, with a little gymnastics class thrown in, so I wasn't home early to get the tamale pie going in the crockpot. We finally got home at 3, after a fun day of errands- did I mention it was 40 degrees and raining all day?- so I made this dish in the oven, instead of the crockpot. It was originally meant for the oven, but got adapted to the crockpot, so I figured it would turn out ok. We were cold, tired and had wet feet. This dish was perfect!! It's easy to throw together, so I wasn't in the kitchen all evening, and it warmed us up!

Tamale Pie
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can hominy, drained ( I love hominy- you can totally use corn)
1 can diced tomatoes (I drain them slightly- I don't like the filling to be too juicy)
1 can chili (totally optional. I like how it thickens up the filling, and makes it heartier)
paprika
chili powder
salt and pepper

Cornbread crust:
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp. baking powder

Mix cornbread ingredients in a separate bowl, set aside.

Mix browned beef, canned goods (remember to drain!) and season well. I was pretty liberal with the paprika and chili powder- those are not spicy spices, but they add good flavor. I used a deep baking dish for this, I couldn't remember how much the cornbread rose, and I didn't want it spilling over the edge.

Mix well, and smooth the meat mixture to an even layer.

Pour cornbread topping over meat mixture. Bake for 40 minutes at 400.

The thing I love about this recipe, and I say this about alot of my recipes, is the flexibility. You could make this a vegetarian dish, and just add more canned beans and veggies. You could use any kinds of bean you want- whatever you have on hand. It's very flexible, this is simply the way we like it.