Tourtière
A traditional French-Canadian Meat Pie originating from Québec in the 17th Century, brought to the New World by French settlers. It is popular in Canada as a Christmas Eve Dinner.
The first time I ever had a Tourtière was actually in Ontario, not Québec, but homemade by my Canadian aunt. It was delicious and left an indelible impression on me; but it took me decades to track down a recipe and make it myself. This recipe was adapted from one by John Mitzewich on All Recipes. I don’ think he was Canadian, however, as he suggested the pie would be good with a brown gravy, which is not traditional. He also said it was good served cold with Ketchup, which pretty much makes him sound like a “dumb Yank.” John’s recipe included making the Tourtière crust from scratch. My aunt also made her crust from scratch. I do not.
Store-Bought vs Homemade
While I am sure a scratch-made crust for this delicious dinner is tastier than a store-bought crust, I have found it to be only infinitesimally better. A refrigerated pie crust, like Pillsbury, (with a little doctoring described in the Kitchen Tapestry recipe) will fool all but the most sensitive palates into thinking this is a homemade pie crust. After 70 years, it seems Pillsbury has perfected the production process and as a matter of convenience, it is part of this recipe. I stress getting the refrigerated pie crusts that you unroll into place; not the frozen crusts that are sold in a glacial state already situated in an aluminum pie pan.
Traditionally, the pie is made with ground pork, but it is not uncommon to see ground veal and/or beef, or a combination of two or all three. I personally prefer the 50/50 combination of pork and beef, which is how I think my aunt made it. You will need a deep-dish Pyrex or earthenware pie plate for this recipe, roundly 9.5” in diameter and 2” deep.
Tourtière
Ingredients
- 2 medium to large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 cup potato cooking water
- 3 tbsp fine sea salt
- 4 tbsp heavy cream
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
- 4 tsp garlic, minced
- all of the spice blend (recipe below)
- 1 lb ground 90/10 ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2 refrigerated pie crust dough rolls (like, Pillsbury)
- non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
- 1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp tepid water (egg wash)
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp dried ground thyme
- 1/2 tsp rubbed sage
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp dried ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp mustard powder (like, Coleman's)
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Make the spice blend by adding all the ingredients to a small mixing bowl and use a wire whisk to evenly distribute the seasonings.
- Place the potatoes in a pot, cover with water plus 2-inches, and add the salt. Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes until fork tender, about 30 minutes.
- Transfer the potatoes to a mixing bowl with a slotted spoon. Reserve 1 cup of the potato cooking water and set aside. Mash the potatoes with the cream using a handheld potato masher until smooth. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Sauté the onions and celery until the onions begin to pick up some color, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and all of the spice blend. Stir well to evenly coat the onions and celery in the seasonings and sauté another minute.
- Add the ground beef and pork to the skillet, and use the end of a spatula or mixing spoon to separate the meat into pieces. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly to combine all ingredients well.
- Add the cup of potato water to the mixture, turn down the heat to medium, and allow the mixture to simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, 40-45 minutes.
- Add the mashed potatoes and stir to combine, then turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool to near room temperature, 30-45 minutes.
- Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.
- Treat a deep-dish pie plate with the non stick spray. Unroll one of the refrigerated pie crusts into the pie plate and press to fit it into the pan snugly. Use the tines of a fork to poke lots of hole in the pie crust throughout the surface of the pie plate.
- Fill the bottom crust with the meat mixture and smooth out the surface.
- Roll the second refrigerated pie crusts onto the surface of the pie. Crimp the edges of the top crust to the edges of the bottom crust and use a fork to press the edges of the crusts onto the rim of the pie plate.
- Using a pastry or basting brush, brush the entire surface of the top crust with the egg wash.
- Cut 3 or 4 slits, about 2" long into the center of the top crust to allow steam to escape while cooking.
- Bake 1 hour until the crust is well browned. Let the Tourtière cool to almost room temperature before serving.
