Pinto Bean Casserole

This is a perfect after-work on a cold night dish. Now that we've had a few cold snaps, I'm looking forward to breaking out some casserole recipes. Thanks to my co-worker Tammie Clark for sharing this easy and delicious Pinto Bean Casserole. You know how some things taste even better the next day? Well, this one falls into that category. Andy told me he ranked this one in his top ten of favorites. The original recipe called for double what I fixed. That would be fine if you are feeding a big family or an army. What I'm sharing will feed two people with huge appetites for two days and then some. I had to guess at the corn bread topping. Despite a few cracks, it tasted fine. I will try two eggs the next time. The mixture of the cheese and topping almost reminded me of eating Mexican corn bread, taste-wise.

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. sausage (spicier the better) or 1 lb. hamburger meat
1 chopped medium onion
2 cans of Luck's pinto beans
1 can of Rotel tomatoes
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Corn bread topping
2 cups corn meal
1-2 eggs
1 cup of milk (or more)--Add enough to so the batter is thin enough to spread but not watery.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown together sausage and onion until cooked through. Drain any grease off. In a 9x13 casserole dish, mix the meat and onion mixture with the beans and tomatoes.

 Layer the shredded cheese on top.

Carefully spread out the corn bread topping mixture.

Bake for about 35 minutes or until the corn bread is firmly baked. With the juices in the casserole and the cheese, you don't want doughy corn bread. This turned out great.