"It actually looks like a pie".....

....was the exact quote from my love. *Heh*. So I actually went ahead and made my own pastry (sour cream shortcrust for the base, and it was absolutely amazingly easy.) I used Maggie Beer's recipe - so now have a new found respect for her. And yes, I did in fact do this on a weeknight. Basically - I just made the pastry as soon as I got home, then threw it in the fridge to chill whilst I put away the shopping, got changed etc.

AS for the pie filling? Well, it was a fairly simple affair:

1 onion finely diced
500gm lean beef mince
1 tspn garlic
Gravox powder
Worcestershire sauce
Vegemite
oregano
Salt and pepper
red wine

Method:

saute onion, add mince, brown
Gravox, water to desired thickness and rest of ingredients to taste.

After blind baking your pastry, add the meat mixture, and top with either another quantity of sour cream shortcrust or some puff pastry. I used puff pastry for this.

Repertoire? Oh yes, Andrew was very impressed indeed.

And it nicely fits the frugal bill, I think.

Confession? I actually did buy some store bought shortcrust, just in case of emergency. Now I have to find something to do with it *sigh* it never, ever ends, does it?