Tourtière (Traditional French Canadian Meat Pie)

Tourtière, a classic French Canadian meat pie typically served during the holidays but with an Italian twist!

Christmas at my house includes a combination of traditional Italian dishes as well as a few new favorites that we've picked up throughout the years. Tourtière is definitely one of these holiday favorites! However, unlike our fellow Canadian friends, we don't serve our tourtière on Christmas Eve or Le Reveillon as it is referred to.

As you may know a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner will consist of fish and seafood dishes such as :

Baccala alla Ghiotta

Coquilles St-Jacques

Stuffed Calamari in Tomato Sauce

Seafood Pasta

Creating new family traditions!

Instead, my mother and I started an annual tourtière baking session that is usually held on New Year's Day.  My family and I head over to my mom's and make tourtière all afternoon.  We usually triple this recipe to make sure that we have leftovers to freeze and distribute among family members.

The day culminates in a tourtière eating feast along with pastina, ('cause we have to Italianize it a little bit) mashed potatoes and a salad. And in case you were wondering, we do enjoy our tourtière with a bit of ketchup on top!

Tourtière with an Italian twist!

So where did this recipe come from? It was generously shared with me by my dear friend who got it from her husband's French Canadian family. A recipe handed down from generation to generation!

The recipe I'm sharing with you is unaltered except for a couple of details. My mother did not like the idea of using 100% ground pork so she decided to swap out half the pork and replace it with ground veal. This is really just a question of personal taste. 

In another recent modification, at the request of my son, I replaced the vegetable shortening with butter. I must admit I do prefer the buttery taste of the crust!

How to make Tourtière (Traditional French Canadian Meat Pie)

Prepare the filling:

Place the ground meat in a large heavy bottomed sauce pan. Brown on low heat. You do not need to add any oil as the meat will release plenty of fat.  Stir in a diced onion, ground sage, celery salt, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring every few minutes, for 1 ½ hours.  

After an hour of cooking, stir in 1 large or 2 small grated potatoes.  Continue stirring to ensure the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

While the meat is cooking prepare the pie crust:

Place flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.  Add cubed cold butter (1) and use a pastry cutter or use your fingers to crumble the butter with the flour until it resembles a course meal (2). Make a well in the centre and pour in the water, vinegar and beaten egg (3).

Stir together with a wooden spoon until a dough begins to form (4).  Use your hands and knead the dough in the bowl or turn out on a lightly floured surface to shape the dough. It does not require much kneading, only enough to hold together to form a dough (5). Flatten into a disc, cover in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about half an hour (6).

When the meat is ready, transfer to a wide bowl to cool slightly.

Assemble the tourtières:

Preheat oven to 375°F and have ready 4 -9 inch pie plates. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut into 4 pieces. Flour your work surface as well as a rolling pin and roll the dough into a circle wide enough to cover the bottom and sides of your pie plate. Transfer the dough to the pie plate.

Using a sharp knife, trim the excess dough hanging over the rim of the pie plate. Reserve the excess dough for the top crust. Repeat for the remaining 3 pies.

Divide the meat mixture among the 4 pie crusts.

Roll the remaining dough pieces together and divide into 4 pieces.  Roll each piece into a circle to cover the meat mixture. Carefully transfer the dough onto the filled pie.  Fold the top edges under the bottom crust. Crimp the edges as desired. Cut slits into the top crust to vent steam while baking.

Beat the remaining egg and using a pastry brush to coat each pie crust with the egg.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until the pie crusts are golden brown. Serve hot.

Tips and suggestions for making tourtière:

• To save time, prepare the dough and cook the meat a day ahead and place in the refrigerator.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to rolling.
• Be sure to keep the dough in plastic wrap until ready to use or it may dry out. 
• Different combinations of ground meat may be used including beef, veal and/or pork.
• I prefer the flavor of butter in the pie crust, but vegetable shortening may be substituted if you prefer.
• The tourtières may be served immediately, or let cool completely on a baking rack, wrap well in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
• Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before reheating in the oven. If the top begins to brown, cover with a sheet of foil.

If you enjoy tourtière as much as I do, please share your photos with me by tagging me with @mangiabedda or #mangiabedda on Facebook or Instagram. Buon appetito!