Québec/French-Canadian Tourtière (Meat Pie)

adapted from Tourtière recipes by Louise Lalande and other sources

1. Preheat a large frypan or pot on medium to medium-high heat. Add ground meat and cook, uncovered, until fully cooked and browned. Drain off any excess fat and liquid from the cooked meat.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add chopped onions and grated potatoes to pan/pot. Add salt, black pepper, and tourtière spice mix to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are tender and translucent.
3. Allow the cooked meat mixture to cool to room temperature prior to the next step.
4. Fill uncooked pie crust shells with meat mixture and cover with a pie crust lid. Crimp the edges of the crust and cut a small vent hole in the center of the pie lid.
5. Bake assembled pie(s) at 350°F until crust is golden brown.

1. Traditional tourtière typically uses a mixture of pork, and veal or beef. However, using 100% pork is an excellent, and more economical, option.
2. The size of pie shells to use was deliberately not specified. This allows you, the user of this recipe, to use whatever size pie shell you desire to make whatever size tourtières you prefer. For reference, this recipe is sufficient to fill three 9-inch pie shells.
3. To store for future use, place assembled pies, prior to baking crust, individually in zip-lock bags and freeze.