Savory Meat Pie

This hearty, savory meat pie is comfort food to French Canadians.



Tourtiere a great meal on any winter day.

Savory Meat Pie
1 lb. ground pork or pork sausage

1 lb. ground beef (or any other kind of meat, including game)

2 Tbsp butter

1 large onion, chopped finely

1 cup celery, chopped finely

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups mushrooms (any kind), chopped roughly

small bunch parsley (about 1/4 cup)

1 large russet potato, grated, then chopped a bit more

1 tsp. poultry seasoning (or your favorite combination)

1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or your favorite combination)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Savory

1/8 tsp. Cloves

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

ground pepper to taste

1/2 cup ketchup (yup, this is the non-traditional ingredient, more on that later)

In a heavy, large pan, cook the meat on high heat. It does not necessarily have to be brown. I cook it until just starting to get brown. Spoon contents of pan into a colander over a bowl. Drain off the fat, but reserve it.



Place pan back on the heat and add 2 Tbsp butter. Add onion and celery. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the garlic, mushrooms and parsley. Cook an additional 3 minutes. Add meat back to the pan. Add the grated/cut potatoes to pan and mix well.



Add your seasonings. Taste! It should taste seasoned. You should taste just a hint of the pie spices.



Adjust to your taste.

Ok, here is where I depart from any recipe I found. I added Ketchup! I did this because for one, Tourtière is

commonly served with ketchup and secondly because I felt the meat needed some kind of binder. Even with

the ketchup, the meat will fall out of the pie a bit, which is why you shouldn’t serve the pie directly out of the

oven (it’s hard to resist!). Let it sit for at least a half hour. And in fact, is commonly served at room

temperature, so it’s a great buffet item.