Bring the family together this holiday season for a traditional Quebec style dish; Tortiere. This delicious meat pie with a flaky homemade crust and well seasoned filling will surely have your family wanting more! Recipe makes two pies of 6-8 servings each
Ingredients: Filling
- 2 lb. (908 g) medium ground beef
- 1 lb. (454 g) lean ground pork
- 2 large onions, diced
- 1 cup (250 ml) diced tender celery stalks, with leaves
- 1 cup (250 ml) chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) water
- 2 tsp. (10 ml) dried summer savory
- 1 tsp. (5 ml) each ground cinnamon and cloves
- 1 tsp. (5 ml) each salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. (2 ml) nutmeg
- 3/4 cup (175 ml) large-flake rolled oats
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) milk
- 5 cups (1.25 L) all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp. (20 ml) baking powder
- 2 tsp. (10 ml) salt
- 1 pkg. (1 lb./454 g) cold lard, cubed
- 1 large egg
- 4 tsp. (20 ml) white vinegar or lemon juice
- Ice water
What You’ll Need
Directions: Pastry
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. With a pastry blender, cut in lard until mixture looks crumbly, with some larger pea-sized pieces. In a liquid measuring cup, use a fork to blend egg and vinegar. Add enough ice water to make 1 cup (250 ml). Drizzle slowly over dry ingredients, tossing them with a fork to make a ragged dough that clumps together. Press dough until smooth and form into 4 discs. Wrap discs individually with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled (about 30 minutes)
*Want to make it in advance? Can be refrigerated for up to 3 days, let it come to room temperature before rolling.
Filling
In a large heavy pot or Dutch oven combine beef, pork, onions, celery, parsley, water, savory, cinnamon, cloves, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, constantly breaking up meat and stirring until meat has lost its pinkness and is crumbly – about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, cover it and stirring occasionally, until liquid has almost evaporated (about 1 hour). After, remove it from the heat and stir in rolled oats. Let it cool.
Making it in advance? Let cool for 30 minutes then refrigerate it uncovered until cold. Cover and then can be refrigerated for up to 1 day.
Assembly
Sprinkle flour on counter and rolling pin before rolling out one of the pastry discs to 1/4-inch (5 mm) thickness. Line a deep 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate with the pastry, leaving the edge untrimmed. Fill with half of the meat mixture and moisten pastry on rim of pie plate with water. Roll out a second disc of pastry and unroll over the filling. Once covered, trim and flute the edges to seal. Repeat for second pie.
Making it in advance? Double-wrap the pies with heavy-duty foil. They can be frozen for up to 1 month. The day of: Remove from the freezer and let thaw in refrigerator; add about 10 minutes to the baking time.
Baking
Cut steam vents in center of each pie. In a cup, mix egg yolk with milk and brush over surface of both pies. Bake in bottom third of a 400F (200C.) oven until pastry is golden and filling piping hot, about 40 to 45 minutes.) Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.