Tourtière is a French-Canadian meat pie that dates back to as early as the 1700s. It is named for the type of dish it was traditionally baked in, known as the tourtière. This hearty favourite can be made with many different varieties of meat including pork, beef, bison, turkey, chicken and wild game. There is no one specific combination as this dish has been passed down for hundreds of years and was prepared based on the animals hunted each day. Try this basic recipe and do not be afraid to be creative and change up the combination of meat to suit your palate.
Tourtière
Yield: 2 – 10” pies
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 lb ground pork
2 lbs ground beef
2 stalks celery
1 carrot, peeled
1 onion, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups mashed potatoes, plain (no milk, butter, salt or pepper)
1 cup chicken stock
3 tsp celery salt
1 ½ tsp all spice
3 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp dry mustard powder
3 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 10” pre-made pie shells
2 sheets puff pastry
as needed water
Method
Place ground pork and beef in pot and brown. Place celery, carrots, onions and garlic in a food processor or blender and puree. Add pureed vegetables into ground meat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add mashed potatoes, chicken stock and all spices, salt and pepper and mix well. Place premade pie shells onto a cookie sheet. Place half the meat in each premade pie shells. Roll out puff pastry to fit the pie shell on a floured surface. Wet edges of shell with water and top pie with puff pastry. Press edges down to seal the pie crust and puff pastry together. Cut off extra pastry with small knife. Cut an X on the top of the pastry in the middle of the pie. Place pies in oven and bake at 350*F until pies are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Once baked allow to cool slightly before serving.
Chef’s Notes
- A homemade crust can be used for this recipe. Pick your favourite recipe and prepare your shells ahead of time. Place them in the freezer for 30 minutes. Once ready, place meat filling into pie shell and follow steps to cover with puff pastry or your homemade dough.
- This recipe can be used to make individual tourtière. Use ten 5” pie shells and cut puff pastry into smaller sheets to cover the pie.
- Tourtière will keep in the refrigerator for up to four days if well wrapped.
- To reheat, place tourtière in the microwave and heat until warm in the center, then place tourtière is the oven at 350*F for five to ten minutes to crisp the pastry.
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Melissa Hryb is the chef at Marion Street Eatery, where she specializes in hearty comfort food with a twist.
Follow her on Twitter @MarionStreetEat or Instagram @MarionStreetEatery