EAT’s New Tourtière

Every year my family makes tourtière for Christmas. I love it because it’s tradition, not because it’s my favourite thing in the world to eat. Until now. I have fiddled with the family recipe, played with ingredients and upped the ante. What makes this so great is the texture: a mixture of succulent braised pork shoulder lovingly shredded and mixed with ground pork perfumed with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves..

See our previous tourtière recipe here.

And of course, I’ve increased the prep time and doubled the work. But I swear it’s worth it. And if you make the pie in stages, it feels more like a fun project than a baking marathon. Makes enough filling for 3 to 4 9-in pies. Be sure to dish up with spicy mango chutney. That’s one tradition I can’t let go of.

Step 1: Make Pastry

Prepare your favourite recipe for pie dough and freeze or refrigerate until ready to use. If you can, make a pie crust with both butter and lard. Embrace fat and substitute half the lard with duck fat. I dare you. You’ll need enough pastry to make 3 to 4 double crust pies.

Step 2: Braise Pork Shoulder

4 cups chicken broth

6 garlic cloves, smashed

2 bay leaves

1 onion, cut into 4 wedges

1 Tbsp black peppercorns

1 cinnamon stick

Thyme sprigs, handful

3 lb pork shoulder, cut into large chunks

Preheat oven to 300F. In a Dutch oven, stir broth with garlic, bay leaves, onion, peppercorns, cinnamon stick and thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil, then add pork pieces. Cover and braise in oven until meat is fork tender, about 2 hours. Let cool, then strain. Reserve liquid but discard solids. Using 2 forks, shred meat into small pieces. Boil chicken stock until it’s reduced to 2 cups. Cool, then stir together. Taste and season with sea salt. If making ahead, cover and refrigerate up to 5 days.

Step 3: Make Ground Pork Filling

3 Tbsp butter

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 onion, chopped

20 button mushrooms, finely chopped

2 cups dry white wine

3 lbs ground pork

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp sea salt

2 Yukon Gold potatoes, grated

Melt butter in a large wide frying pan or skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and stir until soft, 5 min. Working in batches, add mushrooms and cook until most of the liquid has been evaporated, 8 to 12 minutes. Increase heat to high and pour in wine. Scrape up any brown bits from pan bottom and simmer until all liquid evaporates. Crumble in pork and sprinkle with spices and salt. Stir until pork is cooked through, 5 to 7 min. Stir in potato and cook until soft, 5 to 8 more minutes. If making ahead, cool, then refrigerate up to 5 days.

Step 4: Roll, Mix and Fill

Roll enough pie dough to fill 3-4 pie plates. Blend shredded pork with ground pork mixture. Taste and season with more spices and salt, if needed. Divide mixture between prepared pie plates. Roll out 3-4 more circles of dough and use to finish pies. Liberally brush with egg wash. Make a few slits in pastry so steam can escape. Place on a baking sheet and bake in preheated 375F oven for 20 min. Reduce heat to 350F and continue to bake until pastry is deep deep golden and filling is warm, about 35 to 40 more min.