Family Recipe - French Meat Pie

The hardest part of doing something new is how to start.  At least, that’s what tends to hold me back. Once I get going, I’m fine – and then end up rewriting the beginning and starting over.  Let’s see how this goes!

My daughter-in-law, Chelsey, handles the online presence for us.  She’s asked all of us several times for family recipes – will little response.  I promised her that I’d share mine weekly – and have put it off for far too long.  

My first entry is a favorite holiday recipe: meat pies.  This is very French Canadian and also goes by the names of pork pie and tourtiere.  Every cook has a different recipe and this one is my mother’s – with my adaptations.  She hadn’t written out her recipe, but I watched her make it every year at Thanksgiving.  She would make several pies and freeze many of them for the family to enjoy later for Christmas and New Year’s.  The filling is also what she used for meat stuffing for turkey. Bread stuffing wasn’t an option in my house until I was a pre-teen.  For someone who turned her nose up at meat pie and meat stuffing as a child (along with squash), my options weren’t many for dinner! Fortunately, I grew to enjoy both meat pie and meat stuffing – but still steer clear of squash!

This recipe makes one pies and can easily be multiplied.  My philosophy is if I’m going to make a meat pie, I’m going to make several and enjoy them over the winter.  I use frozen and refrigerated pie crust since I’ve never perfected the art of making flaky pie crust – and, frankly, the premade taste great.  I recommend the Hannaford brand of piecrust. I’ve had many compliments from folks who that it was made from scratch. I’ve also found that instant potatoes give a better texture than using real mashed potatoes.  

Meat Pie recipe

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. ground pork

1 onion, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbsp allspice

1 tsp Bell’s seasoning

1 deep dish frozen pie crust

1 refrigerated pie crust

6 servings of instant potatoes prepared according to package instructions

1 egg yolk, beaten

1-2 Tbsp water

Open frozen pie crust package and set aside to defrost while making filling.  Open one end of refrigerated pie crust roll and set aside to come to room temperature.  Cook the ground beef, ground pork, and onion in a skillet. Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until meat is no longer pink and the onion is soft. Drain meat and put into a large bowl.  Add allspice and Bell’s seasoning. Prepare instant potatoes according to package instructions. Add the potatoes to meat and seasoning and mix well.  Add salt and pepper if needed. Put filling in bottom pie crust and spread evenly. Pie should be very full. Cover with refrigerated pie crust. Trim and crimp edges as needed.  Cut three or four slits in top crust for steam vents. Mix water into egg yolk and brush on top pie crust covering completely. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes and crust is brown.  

If making pies to freeze, cool completely on rack.  When cold, wrap pie completely in aluminum foil or place pie in large freezer storage bags and seal.