Gluten Free Tourtiere (French Canadian Meat Pie)

Ingredients for Meat Pie

Gluten free pastry will have adjustments made from a traditional pastry made with wheat flour to account for the unique properties of the flour. If you're not happy with your baking you've got to learn more about the flour blend(s) you're using. In this day and age people are making gluten free foods everyone wants to eat.

• Gluten free pie pastry - Recipes get complicated when you include the entire recipe for pastry. If you don't have a gluten free pastry recipe that works well and no one knows is gluten free then you need this one. For tourtiere you want the double crust for pastry on the top and bottom.

• Ground beef & pork - This combination is the classic.

• Thyme, cinnamon & cloves - These spices make the tourtiere I am familiar with.

• Ground savoury - I list this spice as optional. I wouldn't run out and buy it but if you've got it this is the place to use it.

• Potatoes - This makes the right texture for a hearty meat pie and is the substitute if you're trying to remake a family version that uses breadcrumbs.

See recipe card for exact amounts and complete list of ingredients.

📹 Instructions for Gluten Free Pastry

Gluten free pastry is a recipe to master. It's not hard, you just need to make it several times to learn the tricks gluten free cooks know. One step missing from this video is using plastic wrap or parchment to minimize the amount of additional flour you use while rolling. That reminder is written in the recipe.

Substitutions

Gluten free pastry - The flour is always the determining factor in the success of a gluten free recipe. If you need or want to substitute, any flour in any recipe, learn the guidelines for success and try it. Here are two resources to do just that.

• A printable gluten free flour guide with percentages of different flours and starches
• Best Tips for Gluten Free Pastry

Store bought gluten free pastry - I've never looked for store bought pastry but I'm sure it's out there. Again, you've got to try it, using your knowledge of gluten free flour, and find what works for you.

Variations and Accompaniments

Tourtiere Hand Pies - If you want an appetizer make tourtiere hand pies. Similar to Spanish empanadas they're easy to eat with your hands.

Accompaniments - Tourtiere can be served with cranberry chutney, cabbage slaw, pickles or pickled beets. Every family has their own favourite accompaniment and some of my friends say it's ketchup (gasp!).

Storage

Like so many things this meat pie is best the day it's made, second best on the second day. We eat any leftover from a whole pie but I do freeze hand pies. I pop them in my lunch and they are thawed by the time I want to eat them.

Twenty seconds in a microwave at half power is my preference. If you went to the trouble of making pastry, don't "zap the sh*t out of it" on full power.

Best Tools for Making Meat Pie

Every kitchen needs at least one 9-inch pyrex pie plate (but buy two, always buy two). Pie plates can get fancy with recipes and designs printed onto them but if they aren't the standard size the amounts in your recipe won't work. This recipe is written for an old fashioned 9-inch pie plate with a low profile. You'll get eight pieces with plenty of filling in each one.