French-Canadian Tourtiere

This recipe for a pork pie was one of our featured dishes at the cooking class in July 2011 and was really a hit! Especially since the crust was made from our very own home-rendered lard. We’ll get around to posting a recipe for that eventually, too!

Adapted from Taste of Home Magazine, December/January 2011

• 1 celery rib
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/2 large onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 pounds ground pork (and/or veal and/or sausage)
• 1/2 C chicken broth
• 1/8 C fresh minced parsley
• 1 tsp salt (add more if using only plain ground meat)
• 1/4 tsp each of ground: pepper, basil, rosemary, cayenne, mace, cloves
• 1/4 C. dry bread crumbs
• Pastry for double-crust pie

Finely chop celery, carrot, onion, and garlic in food processor. Place in heavy pot with meat and cook over medium heat until meat is browned. Stir in broth, parsley, and seasonings. Bring to simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook 20 minutes. Stir in bread crumbs.

Line pie plate with bottom crust and trim edges. Fill crust with meat mixture. Fit top crust over pie, trim, seal, and flute. Cut slits in pastry.

To cook: Cover edges of pie with foil. Bake at 400 F for 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F, remove foil, and bake 15-20 minutes longer till crust is golden brown.

To freeze raw pies: Cover well and freeze on level surface for up to 3 months. For baking, unwrap and cover edges with foil. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350, remove foil and bake 50-60 minutes longer till crust is golden brown.

Serves 8.