I think the holidays are the time to get as creative as possible with your food. It’s a time when all rules are thrown out the window, and it’s time for you to do what feels right for the season.
Halloween is the time to break food rules the most. You want things to look creepy, gross, or downright horrifying when you serve it. It’s a perfect time to make some creative pies.
Like a pie with a face on it. Yep, a face.
This meat pie is gruesome to look at, but it’s a delicious hearty pie that makes for a great meal. It’s versatile too. You can switch out the filling with whatever you want!
To make this horrifying meat pie, Chef John from foodwishes.com starts with a classic Tourtiere recipe. What you will need for this is…
For the crust:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, sliced, frozen
- 7 tablespoons ice cold water
- 2 teaspoons white distilled vinegar
*add a little more water if dough isn’t pressing together
For the filling:
- 1 large russet potato, boiled in enough salted water to cover (reserve water)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup finely diced celery
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup potato water, plus more as needed
For the spice blend:
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon ground clove
- pinch cayenne
For the egg wash:
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Want to check out details on how to get this pie perfect? Check out Chef John’s blog post by clicking here. Here’s a video of John putting together the classic Tourtiere:
Once you have finished the base recipe, it’s all in the details of the crust in order to make the face. It’s a little bit like sculpting a sculpture and seeing how the oven changes it!
Food coloring, some handy knife work, and half a grape (or a cherry tomato or something similar,) will be all of the extra things needed for you to turn your plain Tourtiere crust into a face!
If you’re disturbed enough, watch Chef John create this terrifying pie in the video below and get to sculpting your own face!