Beef and Mushroom Tortiere

Toriere

Recipe courtesy of Kelly Brisson, The Gouda Life.

This Beef and Mushroom Tortiere houses all the flavours of a French-Candian classic, but bumps up the nutrition and stretches your beef budget with the addition of some fried mushrooms.
Ingredients:

4 tbsp olive oil, separated
1.5 lbs cremini mushrooms, diced
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
salt and pepper, to taste
2 9″ top/bottom pie shells (my favourite recipe here)
1/4 cup cream/milk/eggwash

Directions:

Put a heavy skillet or dutch oven over med-high heat and heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add in the mushrooms and leave them, without stirring, for 10 minutes. They should go from dry, to watery, and back to dry. You’ll need them to release all their moisture in order to crip up. Continue to cook, stirring if necessary, until mushrooms are golden brown and crisp (about 20 minutes total). Remove mushrooms from the pan to a towel-lined bowl. Add in the other 2 tbsp olive oil and add the ground beef. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and fragrant. Add in the mushrooms and diced onion. Cook for 5 minutes more so onions can soften. Add a few pinches or salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Let mixture cool completely.

Preheat oven to 375 and put the rack in the lowest position.

Roll your dough out and split the pie filling between the shells. Cut a vent hole in the middle of each pie. Brush with eggwash or light cream/milk and bake pies for 45-50 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Slice and serve. If you want to save one, cover tight with plastic wrap and foil and freeze for up to 5 months.

Note: you can brown the beef and mushrooms in separate pans at the same time if you don’t mind dirtying two pots. Otherwise, brown them back to back in the same pan.

Makes 2 pies.