Classic Tourtière or Québec Pork Pie

By MaryA.

Found this on a Canadian mom's blog and it is delicious and easy. A keeper for sure.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds ground pork, ideally organic & local
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 bay leafs
• 1 teaspoon dried savory
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• Salt
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats.
• (optional: 2 TBSP all purpose flour enough water to make the meat a bit sloppier.)
• Pastry for two double-crust, 9-inch pies
• 1 egg, beaten, for glaze

Details

Servings 2
Preparation time 90mins
Cooking time 120mins
Adapted from simplebites.net

Preparation

Step 1

In a large, heavy frying pan, combine pork with cold water and heat to boiling point. It should be slightly soupy.
Add onion, celery, pepper, bay leaf, savory, rosemary, nutmeg and cinnamon. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat for 1 1/4 hours; stir often. Add more water if mixture dries out.
Halfway through cooking time, season with salt to taste.
Stir in rolled oats and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes.
If you're adding the flour, at this point sprinkle the TBSP's over the meat and saute for a couple of minutes then add the extra water to make the mixture sloppier and continue to cook until it thickens again.
Remove bay leaf and allow to cool. Setting the entire pot in the snow bank speeds up this process!
Meanwhile, line two 9-inch pie plates with pastry. When meat mixture is lukewarm, divide it between two pie shells and spread it out evenly.
Brush around outer edge of pastry with the beaten egg.
Place top crust on the tart and press gently around the edge to seal.
Trim pastry, crimp edges and cut steam vents in top crust.
Decorate as desired.
Bake in preheated 425°F oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375°F and bake another 25 minutes or until crust is golden.