Tourtière (French Canadian Meat Pie)

The third recipe I made for Canada day was another very Canadian recipe, this time a family recipe that my paternal grandma used to make at Christmas. It's a French Canadian meat pie that is  hearty and humble, but also savoury and satisfying. Tourtière is made by a mixture of minced pork and beef, some boiled potatoes and aromatic herbs and spices. The filling is precooked, which makes for a filling that can gush a little when you cut into the pie, but that is intentional with this recipe. It is baked in a deep pie dish or skillet with a double crust - top and bottom. As my paternal grandma is French Canadian, and she used to often make this to eat with Christmas dinner. And for whatever reason, we would always eat this pie with mustard, either dijon, or (more often) regular yellow mustard. It takes a little prep work, but the result is well worth it. And pies can be prepared before and frozen until you are ready to bake them. So it can actually be a quick meal if you do the prep beforehand. Needless to say, it was very satisfying having it last week on Canada day. Felt like home.

Line the pan with a layer of shortcrust pastry:

Load in the pre-cooked meat filling:

Cover with another layer of pastry, and trim the edges:

Cut some holes for steam to escape, and crimp the edges of the pastry:

Tourtière:

Makes 3 large pies

Note: As I said before, a true Canadian, in Canada, would probably make 3 or 4 of these at once and freeze them, unbaked, so they're ready to simply load into the oven before your big dinner. It makes for easy entertaining. To do this, prepare everything, load up the pie pans with the pastry and filling, then freeze it, unbaked. Later, just bake the pie(s) straight from the freezer. You will likely have to add 15 or so minutes to the baking time, but just check it as it bakes - once the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling in the pan, it is ready. That said, if you want to make just one pie, you can just third the recipe below.

Ingredients:

• Shortcrust pastry for three double crusts (top and bottom) - I usually would use the Tenderflake recipe if I were home, but I used a butter-based recipe here, as it is more readily available. You can also buy a frozen crust, but you do still need two layers of pastry - to cover both the top and bottom
  
  
• For the filling:
• 2 potatoes, peeled and boiled
• 4 lbs ground meat  (recommended ratio is 3 lb pork and 1 lb beef)
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped 
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tsp salt and some fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp dried yellow mustard 
• 1 cup potato water

Directions:

1. Make the pastry crust following the directions of your recipe (you can also use a frozen pre-made crust, but you will still need pastry on the top as well.
2. Line the bottom of the pan with a layer of pastry, and chill in the fridge for at least an hour, or until well chilled
3. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F or 200 degrees C
4. In a small bowl, mash half the potato with a fork, and leave the rest in medium chunks, set aside
5. In a large pan, cook the onions and garlic in a little oil until translucent 
6. Add the meat, potato, and the rest of the filling ingredients, and simmer, covered, for 10-20 minutes, until the meat is just cooked
7. Let the filing cool a little, then spoon it into the pan, over the pastry layer. If you are using a small pan, you may have too much filling. If this is the case, reserve it to make a pasta sauce later, or bierok (German buns stuffed with meat and cabbage)
8. Roll out the second pastry layer and carefully set it over the pie
9. Trim off the excess pastry (this can also be reserved for tarts or small pastries later, or you can just make it into shapes and top with cinnamon sugar for a quick snack - my grandma often does this)
10. Cut some air holes in the top of the crust, and crimp the edges together to seal 
11. Bake at 400 degrees F in a preheated oven, until the crust is lightly browned and you can see the filling bubbling through the air holes
12. Let cool briefly, and serve with mustard (yellow or dijon). This is best eaten with a few different sides, ideally a salad or some cooked vegetables, as it is very protein-heavy. It's great as part of a big thanksgiving, Easter, or Christmas meal