Tourtière

About This Recipe

Tourtière is Québec's most beloved traditional dish, a double-crusted meat pie with roots deep in the French-Canadian culinary heritage. Made with ground pork (sometimes mixed with veal or beef) and fragrant with cinnamon, cloves, allspice and savory, it has been served at Réveillon — the Christmas Eve feast after midnight mass — for centuries. Every Québécois family has a recipe passed down through generations, differing in the precise blend of spices, the inclusion of potato for body, and the type of pastry used. The result is a deeply comforting, aromatic pie that perfumes the house as it bakes and tastes of celebration, family and the cold Canadian winter outside. It is served with ketchup (a very Québécois tradition), chili sauce or pickled beets.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 500 gground pork
• 250 gground beef or veal
• 1 largeonion(finely diced)
• 2 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 largepotato(peeled and grated)
• 125 mlbeef or chicken stock
• 0.5 teaspoonground cinnamon
• 0.25 teaspoonground cloves
• 0.5 teaspoonground allspice
• 0.5 teaspoondried savory or thyme
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 0.5 teaspoonblack pepper
• 500 gshortcrust pastry(2 rounds — homemade or shop-bought)
• 1egg(beaten, for egg wash)

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the filling

   Combine the ground pork and beef in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook, breaking up the meat, until browned. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain excess fat. Add the stock, grated potato, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, savory, salt and pepper. Stir well.

2. 2

   Simmer and cool

   Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick and most of the liquid has been absorbed. The grated potato will thicken the filling as it cooks. Taste and adjust seasoning. Cool completely before filling the pie.

   The filling must be completely cold before going into the pastry, or the base will become soggy.

3. 3

   Line the pie dish

   Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F). Roll one pastry round to about 3mm thickness and line a 23cm pie dish, leaving a 2cm overhang. Refrigerate while the filling cools.

4. 4

   Fill and top the pie

   Spoon the cooled filling into the pastry-lined dish, pressing it in firmly. Roll the second pastry round and lay it over the filling. Trim the edges, press together and crimp to seal. Cut a few steam vents in the top. Brush all over with beaten egg.

5. 5

   Bake

   Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes, then reduce to 180°C and bake for a further 30–35 minutes until the pastry is deep golden brown. Rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving with ketchup or chili sauce.

Variations

• •

  Saguenay-style: add wild game (venison or rabbit) in place of some of the pork.

• •

  Some families add thinly sliced mushrooms to the filling for extra depth.

• •

  Make individual tourtières in muffin tins as party portions.

Storage

Tourtière keeps refrigerated for up to 4 days. Reheat in the oven at 175°C for 15–20 minutes to re-crisp the pastry. Freeze the baked pie for up to 3 months, wrapped tightly.

Frequently Asked Questions