The Salt Lick is hands-down the biggest restaurant I've ever been to, not even counting the hundreds of acres of ranch land surrounding a building that can (and very frequently, does) feed 800 hungry mouths in one go. And the rumors are true: winding up the country road linking Driftwood, Texas, to the nearby city of Austin, you can start to smell the scent of smoke and meat rising off the restaurant's pits from miles away.

After 45 years in business, the iconic Hill Country barbecue joint has finally published a cookbook, incorporating not just restaurant favorites like trascendent smoked turkey and succulent house-made sausages — and of course, coveted secrets to its almighty beef brisket — but generations-old Roberts family recipes from fried chicken to peach pound cake to split-pea soup.

Tamale Pie is one such dish, a weeknight dinner made by Hisako Roberts, who along with her husband Thurman founded The Salt Lick in Driftwood in 1967. If a whole afternoon of pre-game cooking is not in the cards, you won't do better than this hearty, no-nonsense casserole to feed the Super Bowl fans gathered around your TV. The recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled for bigger crowds.

Tamale Pie

Excerpted from The Salt Lick Cookbook: A Story of Land, Family, and Love, by Scott Roberts and Jessica Dupuy.

Serves 4.

For Filling:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 lb ground steak

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp garlic salt

3 tbsp butter

1 8-oz can whole kernel corn and liquid

1 8-oz can crushed tomatoes

2 tsp chile powder

For Cornbread Topping:

3 beaten eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups corn meal

1 1/2 cups sweet milk, evaporated

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tbsp salt

2 tsp sugar

The filling: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first six ingredients in large skillet, and brown the meat. Add corn, tomatoes, and chile powder. Cook together for 15 minutes. Transfer ingredients to a casserole dish.

The cornbread topping: In a separate bowl, combine all ingredients. Pour over meat mixture, and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until the top has browned.

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