Carondelet Kitchen Vezeau-Compton Family Rustic French Meat Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 deep dish pie shells (*)
• 2 pounds ground sirloin
• 4 pounds ground sausage
• 3 cans Swanson Beef Broth
• 2 onions
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 carrots
• 4 bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons Herbes de Provence
• ½ cup Kitchen Bouquet
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons butter

 
(*)  Use the frozen pie shells if necessary.  We prefer to make our own savory pie shell.  The recipe can be found separately.
 
 
Putting it Together:
 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

 

1. Rough cut the onions, celery, and carrots and place into a large Dutch oven.  Add the ground sirloin and sausage along with the bay leaves and Herbes de Provence.  Mix the ingredients to break down the large pieces of meat.  Cover with the beef broth and place in the oven for 90 minutes.  As the mixture cools, remove the bay leaves and add the Kitchen Bouquet.  You can certainly add more or less of this ingredient as it will darken the mixture.  Place the entire pot in the refrigerator overnight.

 

1. The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Skim off any excess fat from the top of the mixture and discard.  Cook the mixture for one hour. 

 

1. Once the mixture is cooler, use an immersion blender to blend the meat and vegetables.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a food processer.  Strain the mixture into another bowl and place any leftover liquid into a measuring cup and set aside.  Use the same Dutch oven to make a rue with your flour and butter.  You want the mixture to thicken, but if too dry, add some of the liquid. 

 

1. Increase the temperature on your oven to 425 degrees.  Pour the mixture into the 2 prepared pie pans with shells.  If you made your own crust, try to save a little bit to put a decorative item in the middle of the meat pie.  Bake the 2 pies for 40 to 60 minutes checking it throughout the baking process.  If the edges of the pie crust brown too quickly, cover them with foil to avoid burning them.

 
Lessons Learned:
 
The original family recipe has been passed down from generation to generation.  Unfortunately, the ingredients have been changed and no two recipes are now alike.  This recipe is a 2.0 version honoring what we believe is the essence of the original recipe.
 
The pies are meant to be served with a cranberry relish.  We prefer to use a cranberry conserve whose recipe is also on our website.  Or, if you wish to follow family tradition, ketchup makes a great enhancement to the pie as well.
 
The original recipe did not “double” the meat so you can certainly half the portion if you don’t wish to spend the money on it.  However, we find the added layer of filling makes it worth the cost.
 
We decided to try to keep the cooking liquid after straining as a good, rich stock.  Not sure how that will turn out but it’s beautiful and we’re looking forward to trying it out.

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