Gary cooks

Tourtière

Preparation time:
30 mins
Cooking time:
20 mins
Serves:
6 serves

I first tasted “Tourtiere”, a traditional French Canadian Meat Pie, on Christmas morning 2003. It was cooked by one of my closest friends Pat Saiya. It’s tradition in Pat’s house in Boston every Christmas and I started the same tradition six years ago when we moved into our new home. The aromas coming off this Pie are Christmas personified. It’s incredible. Make it at any time of the year though or for special occasions.

  • Ingredients

      For the Pastry:
    • 200g butter, cubed and cold
    • 400g flour
    • pinch of salt
    • 95ml water
    • Tbspn room temperature butter to line the pie dish
      For the Egg Wash:
    • 2 eggs
    • Splash of milk
      For the Meat Filling:
    • 300g ground cubed beef shoulder or topside (See Tip 1 in Chef's notes)
    • 300g cubed pork butt or shoulder
    • 1 medium onion diced
    • ½ tsp salt
    • ¼ tsp pepper
    • ¼ celery salt
    • ½ tsp ground cloves
    • ½ tsp cinnamon
    • ½ tsp dried sage
    • 9 rooster potatoes, boiled, dried and mashed (you may not need them all)
      Special Equipment:
    • Kenwood Multipro Excel or Kenwood Chef with Meat Grinder & Food Processor Attachments

  • Method

    • Sift the flour into the food processor and add in the butter. Pulse it until it crumbles.
    • Now add in half the water and pulse again.
    • Keep adding the water bit by bit until the dough comes together.
    • Once it does, remove and place on a lightly floured surface.
    • Knead until it forms a smooth ball.
    • Wrap and place in the fridge for 45 minutes.

    • Pass the cubed pork through the meat grinder attachment twice and do the same with the beef. (it’s not necessary to wash in- between)
      For the Meat Filling:
    • Heat a heavy based pot and add the onion, beef and pork mince.
    • Season well with salt and pepper and sauté until golden.
    • Now add in all the spices and dried sage and cook for 3-4 minutes.
    • Strain out the fat but reserve it.
    • Add in over half the mash potatoes to the meat mixture as well as 2-3 tbspn of the meat fat and combine.
    • Keep adding the potato until the mix is dry enough.
      To Assemble the Pie:
    • Line a 9” pie dish with butter (See Tip 2 in Chef's notes)
    • Split the pastry in half and roll out thin but not overly thin. (Similar to an apple pie)
    • Once you’ve lined the base, fill the pie with the meat mixture.
    • Roll out the other half of the pastry and top the pie.
    • Whisk together the eggs and milk and brush the top of the pie.
    • Bake at 200C for about 10 minutes (See Tip 3 in Chef's notes) then bring the temperature down to 180C and continue cooking until a golden and warmed through.
    • Serve with a big dollop of Ketchup.

  • Chef's notes

    • 1. When buying meat for mincing work off the 85/15 rule of thumb i.e. 85% meat and 15% fat. The meat needs fat otherwise you’ll be left with a very dry tasteless mixture.
    • 2. An oil spray would also work.
    • 3. Times vary in most ovens. These timings are linked to a convection (fan) oven so if you aren’t using a convection cooker it may take a few more minutes. Let the colour of the pie be your guage.

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