Tis the season for all the appetizers and this is a fun twist on an authentic tourtière.
You might be asking… Vegan Meat Pies? Vegetarian Tourtière? Umm… what the??? I’ll explain.
You may or may not already know that one of my daughters is vegetarian. You also may or may not already know that I grew up with a French mother who made Tourtière for Christmas Eve every year. She serves it with homemade green tomato relish and it is absolutely delish. My vegetarian daughter has never had the chance to experience this deliciousness and I obviously can’t stand it when anybody misses out on a life-changing experience that involves food. So… I’ve solved this little predicament with these little pockets of deliciousness that I swear taste exactly like the real deal.
Trust me when I say that the carnivores in your life will not have a clue. In fact, I suggest you don’t even tell your sceptics what they’re eating and just sit back and enjoy the compliments.
Traditional Tourtière is made as a whole pie and we eat it for dinner with some sides, but because there are so many opportunities to serve appies at this time of year, and possibly because I don’t want to wait until Christmas eve, I created these fun little treats. And they are so yummy. Crisp, browned, buttery pastry stuffed with a warmly spiced “meat” and potato mixture… I could eat a hundred of them.
If I haven’t satisfied your need to know more about Tourtière and where it comes from, read this.
Anything special you need to know about my Vegetarian Tourtière Hand Pies?
I even made vegan pastry for these guys, but please feel free to use whatever pastry you like. You can even use store bought puff pastry or vegan pie crust if it makes your life easier, but trust me when I tell you that this pastry is incredible. I also make it in the food processor, so it really is easy peasy.
We eat our tourtière with my Mom’s homemade Green Tomato Relish. I’ve never seen her make it, I’ve never made it myself and to be honest I probably never will. If you need the deets let me know and I’ll see if she’ll invite you over for a relish making party.
If you don’t have a Mom who makes her own relish you can serve this with any number of condiments… cranberry sauce, pickled beets, spicy ketchup, grainy honey mustard… anything kind of sweet ‘n sour is best.
What Ingredients do you need to make these little Vegan Meat Pies?
- Flour – all purpose flour.
- Sugar & Salt – self explanatory, yes?
- Plant-Based Butter – I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks because I like to dice the butter up and throw it in the freezer to get it really cold for the pastry.
- Onion – white is my preference, but anything works.
- Potato – one large, cooked and cooled. I cooked mine whole, skin pierced, in the microwave for about 10 minutes and the scooped out the flesh.
- Spices – dried thyme, dried sage, dry mustard powder, cloves, cinnamon.
- Plant Based Ground Beef – I used Gardein Ground Be’f and it worked really well.
- Vegetable Broth
FAQs?
Of course! This filling recipe makes enough to make a large sized pie.
It tastes pretty much exactly like regular pastry. Honest. It’s made with exactly the same ingredients with one small change… the addition of plant-based butter.
I’m telling you, in this instance, 100% yes. I would challenge you to tell the difference.
Recipe-ish…
Let me know what you think!
Vegetarian Tourtière Hand Pies
Ingredients
For the pastry:
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup plant-based butter diced, very cold
- 7-8 Tbsp ice water
For the filling*:
- 2 Tbsp plant-based butter
- 1/2 onion finely diced
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp dried sage
- 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder
- Pinch cloves
- Pinch cinnamon
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 package Gardein Be’f Crumbles
- 1 large potato cooked and mashed
Instructions
- To make the pastry, add the flour, sugar and salt to a food processor and pulse until combined.
- Add in the very cold vegan butter and pulse until butter is pea sized.
- Add in the water and pulse until dough holds together when you pinch it.
- Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into a disc. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- To make the filling, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and add in the onion. Sauté the onion until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Add in the thyme, sage, mustard, cloves, cinnamon and season with S&P.
- Mix well and then add in the Be’f Crumbles and the broth. Mix well.
- Remove from the heat. Stir in the potato.
- Allow the mixture to cool.
- Roll out the pastry to 1/8” thick.
- Cut out 5” circles of dough and fill each circle with about 3 Tbsp filling. Fold the circle in half and pinch the edges with a fork. Cut 2-3 slits in the top of the pastry.
- Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned and crisp.
Notes
If you like this Recipe for Vegetarian Tourtière Hand Pies please go try my Recipe for Grilled Cheese with Honey, Sage & Butternut Squash. More vegetarian comfort food.
