Tourtière, also known as pork pie or meat pie, is a combination of ground meat, onions, spices, and herbs baked in a traditional piecrust. There are many variations of tourtière throughout different regions of Franco-American communities and Canada and even among members of the same family.
Growing up in a Northern New England paper town provided an eclectic upbringing of various nationalities and traditions. Like most mill towns, employment opportunities summoned immigrants from all over the world including Russia, Scandinavia, and Ireland. However, the largest immigrant group by far was French-speaking Canadians.
Employment opportunities at the many saw mills and logging camps drew numerous French Canadians south in several waves during the 19th century. Eventually, many French Canadians seeking work and preservation of their customs, language, and way of life relocated to New England towns. They settled, established Franco-American communities, and maintained their culture, language, and religion. My family is mostly of French-Canadian descent, and I grew up in a bilingual French and English speaking small town.
Among the customs passed down from generation to generation is the tradition of serving tourtière for special occasions such as Christmas Eve. This celebration meal was an adaptation of réveillon de Noël of rural Québec.
The Family Tradition of Tourtière (Meat Pie)
As our family Christmas traditions continue to evolve over the years, I often think about the old-fashioned customs and foods from my youth. I remember attending Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, then returning home to feast on meat pies smothered with a generous amount of ketchup before we were ushered to bed so Santa could deliver presents. As the years went by, and family members got older, the tradition of Midnight Mass gave way to Christmas Eve Mass at an earlier hour but the ritual of serving tourtière after Mass continued for many years.
Tourtière, also known as pork pie or meat pie, is a combination of ground meat, onions, spices, and herbs baked in a traditional piecrust. There are many variations of tourtière throughout different regions of Franco-American communities and Canada and even among members of the same family. Most recipes include a combination of ground pork and beef, but it is not unusual to include venison or other game meats in the pie. Almost every family had a tante or mémère (aunt or grandmother) who had a tourtière recipe with a secret ingredient or two.
Some believe a true tourtière is made from only ground or chopped pork, but my family always made it with a mix of pork and beef. Several accounts suggested that using potatoes was frowned upon because that meant you could not afford meat. In this recipe, I feel the potatoes are essential to help bind the ingredients together. The poultry seasoning that is historically used by many families in New England is Bells Poultry Seasoning and is still made today.
New England Tourtière (Meat Pie) Recipe
Pastry
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter or lard
6-7 Tablespoons cold water
Filling
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 large potatoes
1/2 teaspoon Bell’s poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, scrambled for glazing
Prepare the Pastry
1. In a large bowl, combine flour with the salt. Cut in butter or lard until mixture is a roughly even crumbly texture. Add water and blend just until dough comes together.
2. Shape into a rough disc, wrap and chill in the refrigerator. While pastry is chilling, prepare filling.
Prepare the Filling
1. Cook potatoes in a pot of water until tender, about 12 minutes. Reserve 1/2-cup of potato water and drain the rest. Mash potatoes and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, cook the onion, garlic beef and pork over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain off excess fat. Add seasonings and reserved potato water. Mix in well and simmer for about 10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Remove the pan from heat, stir in mashed potatoes, and set aside to cool slightly.
3. Preheat oven to 400°F/205°C
4. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half and flatten one ball of dough with your hands. Roll dough to about 12-inches in diameter to fit a 9-inch pie pan. Place the pastry into the pie plate and add the meat filling. Brush around the outer edge of the pastry with the beaten egg. Roll out the top pastry and place on top of the filling. Fold the top crust under the bottom crust and pinch or flute the edges. Brush with egg wash and cut vent holes.
5. Bake in a preheated over for 30 to 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove the tourtière from oven and let it cool at least 10 minutes before serving. Yield: Makes 1 pie, about 8 servings.
Scroll down for a printable recipe.
Tourtière, also known as pork pie or meat pie, is a combination of ground meat, onions, spices, and herbs baked in a traditional piecrust.
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup butter or lard
- 6-7 tablespoons cold water
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 2 large potatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning (Bells Poultry Seasoning)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 egg scrambled for glazing
-
In a large bowl, combine flour with the salt. Cut in butter or lard until mixture is a roughly even crumbly texture. Add water and blend just until dough comes together.
-
Shape into a rough disc, wrap and chill in the refrigerator. While pastry is chilling, prepare filling.
-
Cook potatoes in a pot of water until tender, about 12 minutes. Reserve 1/2-cup of potato water and drain the rest. Mash potatoes and set aside.
-
In a large skillet, cook the onion, garlic beef and pork over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain off excess fat. Add seasonings and reserved potato water. Mix in well and simmer for about 10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Remove the pan from heat, stir in mashed potatoes, and set aside to cool slightly.
-
Preheat oven to 400°F/205°C
-
On a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half and flatten one ball of dough with your hands. Roll dough to about 12-inches in diameter to fit a 9-inch pie pan. Place the pastry into the pie plate and add the meat filling. Brush around the outer edge of the pastry with the beaten egg. Roll out the top pastry and place on top of the filling. Fold the top crust under the bottom crust and pinch or flute the edges. Brush with egg wash and cut vent holes.
-
Bake in a preheated over for 30 to 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove the tourtière from oven and let it cool at least 10 minutes before serving. Yield: Makes 1 pie, about 8 servings.
Does your family have traditions centered on food and meals?
What family traditions do you carry on?
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OOOOHHHHH Tourtière!!! Love it but have never made it….thanks for the recipe, now I’m going to have to try making it myself. <3
My husband’s family is French Canadian and they also celebrated the reveillon with midnight mass and then a party afterwards with Tourtiere. We’ve moved the party to before midnight mass as we’ve gotten older, but we still have the meat pies. We love it for breakfast the next day with eggs! Thanks for the recipe. I’ve never personally made one, but I know Meme was going to try and teach some grandkids this year! I’ll show her the recipe to see if this is similar to how she does it.
Looks delicious! I love traditions, especially those that surround the Christmas season.
Thanks for sharing on Let’s Get Real Party.
In my family, the filling was made mostly with ground beef and was used to stuff the Christmas turkey, with enough extra filling for the meat pies, which were then served for New Year’s.
Jean, That seems like a very efficient use of time and ingredients. 🙂
We had our ” Reveillon ” religiously each year. And after midnight Mass as custom.
And I pass it on to our children’s. But the ” fat ” content is too high for today diet as one’s age’s.
Very good memories.
Also, after, mom played violin, Aunt played accordion, granddad played the clarinet, and uncle played the spoons. Played music for two to three hours. I loved the music.
Roger, Thank you for sharing your warm memories. I remember some very fatty meat pies over the years. That is the great thing about grinding your own meat, you can adjust the amount of fat that is included.
I’ve always liked tourtiere 🙂 I live in Quebec and now that I’m a mom I make it for special occasions. It’s worth to make it fresh. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Rachel! Oh, this looks wonderful! I’m sure my family would love it. We’re going to be relocating to northern New Hampshire in a few weeks, so I’ll have to make it at Christmas time. So nice to know that this is a local favorite. 🙂 Already pinned. Thanks!
Marge, Thank you for your kind comment. I hope you enjoy NH and the recipe. 🙂
My mom made something similar; sometimes she would put an egg or two in with the meat.we all loved it. Will try this one….see if it stacks up. Her’sister was always a favorite and there was not a recipe, most of her cooking was from memory.
We always have ours for breakfast Christmas morning. My mom was English, my dad French Canadian….so as a compromise we had it for breakfast instead of after midnight mass. My mom’s secret ingredients, some Bisto and a bottle of beer. Trust me everyone always loves it!
DebbieLee, It sounds like a fair compromise 🙂
My grandfather always made meat pies for Christmas, Love and miss him very much. Hope they taste as good as his, will love them.
This recipe is the closest I’ve ever seen to my mother’s. We grew up in Woonsocket, RI, which had a very large population of French-Canadians working in the textile mills. I still make it at Christmas.
Linda, There are so many different ways to make Christmas meat pie. My grandparents on both sides had different versions and they lived in the some town. I am glad you are carrying on the tradition. 🙂
Qis t possible to freeze the tortiere once all the ingredients are assembled- before cooking? To used later???
Jane, Yes, you can freeze it once assembled. Use a metal or foil pie plate and you can go from freezer to oven. I will take longer to bake, probably up to an hour in the oven.
I just thought I would let you know that the printable recipe does not have the lard/butter for the pastry in the ingredients.
My dad always made meat pie that his mother passed down to him. I had the recipe but lost it long ago but the one thing I was sure of was that he used Bell’s poultry seasoning. I searched many recipes and while I found some that had sage and thyme and other spices found in Bell’s I could now find a recipe that specifically called for poultry seasoning. Until now. Thank you for the recipe.