Tourtière de Noël
La Cabane d’à Côté

INGREDIENTS
Pork Shoulder

• 1 kg (2 lb) deboned pork shoulder, cubed
• 2 g (¾ tsp) ground cinnamon
• 2 g (¾ tsp) ground clove
• salt and pepper

Filling

• 50 g (¼ cup) butter
• 400 g (2½ cups) minced onions
• 20 g (1½ tbsp) minced garlic
• 175 g (1¾ cups) chopped button mushrooms
• 50 ml (¼ cup) apple cider or white wine
• 1 kg (2 lb) ground pork
• 15 g (1½ tbsp) salt
• 1 g (¼ tsp) ground cinnamon
• 1 g (¼ tsp) ground clove
• 540 g (3 cups) grated potatoes
• 175 ml (¾ cup) broth from braised pork shoulder

Tart Bottom

• 600 g (5 cups) flour
• 10 g (1 tbsp) salt
• 300 g (10 oz) cold butter, cubed
• 1 egg, beaten

Pâte Brisée

• 550 g (4½ cups) flour
• 450 g (1 lb) cold butter, cubed
• 10 g (1 tbsp) salt

To Finish

• 1 egg yolk, beaten with water or cream

METHOD
Preheat oven to 175C (350F).

Combine pork shoulder and spices in a roasting pan and season. Add water to come partway up the pork. Cover pan snugly with foil. Transfer pan to the oven until meat is tender and falling apart — about 3 hours. Strain and reserve cooking liquid. Shred meat and set aside to cool.

For the filling, heat butter in a large Dutch oven on medium. When the butter foams, add onions and garlic and sweat until softened. Add mushrooms and cook until their liquid has evaporated. Deglaze with cider (or wine). When it has reduced to a syrup, add ground pork, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring to break up the meat. Add potatoes and 175 ml (¾ cup) reserved broth from the braised shoulder. Cook, stirring occasionally, until potato is soft and the pork is firm — about 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings and transfer to a tray to cool.

For the tart bottom, combine flour and salt on a work surface and cut in the butter with a pastry cutter. When the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, form a well at the centre, add egg and 170 ml (¾ cup) of cold water and incorporate. Knead gently until the dough comes together. Form into a ball, wrap snugly in cling film and transfer to the refrigerator for 3 hours. Lightly flour 4 23-cm (9 inch) pie plates. Roll dough out to a thickness of about 4 mm (⅛”). Cut out 4 rounds large enough to reach the edges of the pie plates. Line pie plates with dough and transfer to the refrigerator.

To make the pâte brisée, combine flour, butter and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Add 70 ml (⅓ cup) cold water and pulse until the dough comes together. Do not overprocess (there should be pieces of butter visible in the dough). Transfer dough to a work surface and form into a ball. If it doesn’t hold together, work in more cold water. Wrap the dough in cling film and set aside in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Let dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, then roll to a thickness of about 4 mm (⅛”). Cut 4 25-cm (10 inch) rounds from the dough. Arrange on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet and transfer to the refrigerator.

To assemble the tourtières, remove dough-lined pie plates from the refrigerator. Divide meat filling between the 4 pies and mound at centre. Repeat with the braised pork shoulder. Brush the edges of each pastry base with water. Top with 1 disk of pâte brisée, press edges together and crimp to seal. Using a sharp knife, cut 3 vents in each top crust. Freeze tourtières, uncovered, until solid; then wrap in several layers of cling film. Keep frozen until the holiday season (or up to 4 months).
Preheat oven to 225C (425F).

Transfer frozen tourtière(s) to a baking sheet. Brush with egg wash, then transfer to middle rack for 30 minutes. Lower heat to 175C (350F) and bake until pastry is bronzed and base is cooked — about 90 minutes. Set tourtière(s) aside to rest 10 minutes before serving.