180. Inspired by an iconic French Canadian classic - Tourtière

Bonus: A maple syrup/apple cider vinegar dressing recipe perfectly paired for the side salad.

Served with a simple kale salad in a maple/apple cider vinegar dressing.

A scrumptious hearty meal perfect for a family, a big group, banquet table or reheated lunch. Many traditional recipes can be long and laborious. This recipe is my adapted easy version of the iconic holiday meat pie.

My phone is packed full of photos of my dog, cats, and of course tonnes of recipes. I stumbled upon this recipe completely by accident, I was looking for a specific photo of my dog (I easily have over 4000 photos, and yet I was indeed searching for one in particular from a few years ago). I came across a text exchange I was having with a friend, I had taken a ‘screenshot’. She was outlining her recipe for French Canadian meat pie, tourtière. As my Substack is aptly titled ‘Just really good recipes’, I needed to revisit this lovely easy recipe, and share it with everyone!

This is a recipe for tourtière, pronounced, ‘tur-tee-air’ or ‘ tu-tier’. Tourtière is a French Canadian deep dish meat pie that is super easy to prepare. This recipe is inspired, and adapted from that ‘screenshot’ from my friend, she is French Canadian. She makes this recipe in bulk over the Christmas holidays, New Years, and sometimes Easter. I had asked her for this recipe years ago after my son tried it at her place, he raved about tasty rich meaty flavour.

As I am writing this post, it is technically spring. However, mother nature is having her last winter hurrah, and it is snowing - think blustery snow storm. It feels like a great time to make these deep dish meat pies for dinner.

My dog thinking this last (hopefully) snowfall is just grand! Here he is on the back deck relaxing. The photo is deceiving, he looks small and cute. He is actually considered a giant size… still cute!

This recipe for tourtière is very simple to make, and even easier if you buy the ready made store bought pie crusts, which is what I have done here. I make sure to buy the ready made ‘butter’ pie crusts. The recipe is just ground meat mixed a few spices, mashed potatoes, and maple syrup. Traditionally tourtière is made with a mix of ground beef, pork, sometimes veal and even game. My family don’t eat pork, so I use a mix of ground beef and veal. I generally serve the tourtière with some sort of side salad tossed in a maple syrup-apple cider vinegar dressing, recipe included below.

This is the original recipe ‘blueprint’ from my phone texts. My adapted recipe is below. These pies are meant to look however you choose. Make them beautiful and elegant with proper pie crust crimping or, as whimsically rustic as you like. There is no wrong way to present tourtière. It is simply designed however you want to be enjoyed with your family and friends.

Maple syrup - apple cider vinegar dressing for the salad

Blend all the ingredients using a blender. Set aside in the fridge for at least 15 minutes prior to using, this allows the ingredients to infuse.

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

• 1 tsp maple syrup (or honey)

• 1 garlic clove, mashed or grated - If you like extra zing use 2 cloves

• 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

• black pepper to taste

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Recipe for the tourtière

1 pie crust (12 inch (30 cm) and 1 inch (5 cm) deep)

I used store bought butter pastry crusts

Filling - For 1 or 2 pies, depends how you fill them and the actual size of the crusts you use.

2 potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed as you would normally - leave them chunky-ish - If using salted butter in your mash, be mindful how much extra salt you add when preparing the meat filling. The mash and meat mixture are mixed together!

1 lb ground veal

1 lb ground beef

1 Tbsp avocado oil

1 onion finely chopped

3 cloves garlic mashed (optional but I like this add-in)

2 tsp allspice - you can be generous with this measurement

2 Tbsp maple syrup - be generous if you like a bit of sweet

Salt and pepper to taste - I use 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper - mind the salt as it is already present in your mashed potatoes

1 egg yolk beaten to ‘egg-wash’ the crust prior to baking

Method for the tourtière

1. Peel, chop, boil and mash the potatoes. The mash can be a chunky as you like. This is traditionally a more rustic meat pie so no need for a smooth elegant mash (unless you want to).

2. In a skillet preheated to medium-high, add the oil and chopped onions. Sauté to soften the onions (about 3-5 minutes), then add the ground meat with the spices. Brown the meat, and add the maple syrup. Once the maple syrup is combined and mixed well into the beef mixture, turn off the stove. Remove from the heat.

3. Add the beef mixture to the mashed potatoes. Mix well and then add to the pie crusts. If using store bought crusts, there is no need to blind bake, just add the mixture to the uncooked crusts.

4. If adding a top crust, egg wash with a paint brush. Seal the bottom, and top crusts by pressing the two together. Use your fingers to seal (crimp if you like), or use the side of a fork to create a linear design. Be sure to pierce the top crust a few times with a knife to allow for venting while the pie bakes in the oven

5. Bake at 350 F until the crust is a beautiful golden colour, or the beef mixture is browned.

Mashed potatoes mixed with the ground beef/veal mixture

Store bought pastry crusts - I like to make one pie without the top crust for one of my kids that isn't a fan of pastry tops (but they like the bottom part!!!)

Example of applying the egg wash. Place a crust over the top of the filling, and brush the egg yolk over the crust. Be sure the vent the top crust by creating little slits in the top. Bake until golden. Notice here these edges were just sealed without any design - rustic looking!

Serve and enjoy!