Tamale Casserole - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 -2 garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef
14 1/2 ounces whole canned tomatoes, drained (OR 3 medium tomatoes, chopped)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup cornmeal
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350\u00b0F.
Saute the onion, green pepper and garlic in the oil until just tender. Crumble the ground beef into the skillet and brown. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and chili powder. Cook over med-low heat for about 20 minutes.
While the meat mixture is simmering, bring 3 cups of the water to a boil. Slowly pour the corn meal into the remaining 1 cup of cold water, stirring until smooth. Add the salt and chili powder to the boiling water, and then, stirring constantly, add the cold corn meal mixture to the boiling water. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cover.
Spray a casserole or baking dish with vegetable cooking spray. Using half of the cornmeal mixture, fill the bottom and sides of the dish. Fill with the meat mixture. You can sprinkle some black olives over the meat, if preferred. Using the remaining half of the cornmeal mixture, cover the top of the pie.
Bake at 350\u00b0F for 20 minutes or until nicely browned. Or until knife inserted in top crust portion comes out clean.