Keto Tourtière (French Canadian Meatpie)

A staple food at any French Canadian family get together, especially at the Holidays, is tourtière! It is a meatpie baked with warm comforting spices that you just can’t get enough of.

This keto version swaps potatoes for radishes (trust me!) and traditional crust for a fathead one. All the flavour and barely any carbs. Yum!

Ingredients

Filling
1 lbs (about 0.5 kgs) ground beef
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup radishes, diced
1/2 small onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp psyllium husk powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Crust
2 cups mozzarella, grated
1 cup almond flour
2 oz cream cheese
1 large egg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional: 1 egg yolk, whisked for egg wash

Yields: 8 servings
Per serving*:
Calories: 379
Net carbs: 3
Protein (grams): 26
Fat (grams): 28

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 hr 55 min

* Net carbs and other nutritional information may vary based on brand used

Directions

Start by preparing the crust for the tourtière.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the mozzarella and cream cheese. Microwave 90 sec or until melted.

Whisk the cheese with a fork, then mix in the egg, almond flour, baking soda, garlic powder, and salt and pepper, to taste.

Roll the dough into 2 balls, then cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

While the fathead dough refrigerates, prepare the tourtière filling.

In a small bowl, combine the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper and cloves, then set aside.

Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add the radishes, onion and garlic, and sautee 2-3 min, stirring frequently.

Add the spice mixture, stir well and allow it to toast 1 min.

Add the ground beef to the skillet and sautee until the meat is browned, breaking it down, about 3-5 min.

Pour the chicken broth over the beef, bring to a simmer and allow to reduce, about 10 min.

Stir in the psyllium husk powder, remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Once the fathead dough has been refrigerated for an hour, preheat oven to 350F.

Get the balls of dough out of the fridge and place each one between two sheets of parchment paper.

Using a rolling pin, roll each ball out into a thin circle, about 1/4 inch thick, to create the bottom and top crusts.

Remove the top parchment sheet, then place the first rolled out half of dough over an aluminium pie sheet. Press it down gently, then peel off the remaining parchment.

Adjust the fathead dough to ensure it sticks out over the edges slightly, then add the meat filling.

Remove the top parchment from the remaining half of rolled out dough, then transfer the top of the crust to cover the meat filling.

Gently peel off the last sheet of parchment, then press down the edges of the crust and press down into the rim of the aluminium pie sheet.

You may end up with excess dough around the edges of the pie sheet. You can cut these off with a sharp knife.

Note: I like to roll excess dough into small balls and bake them into like bready bites, next to the tourtière.

You can use the back of a fork to press down slightly and create a patterned edge to the crust.

Bake for 18-20 min.

Optionally, you can remove the tourtière about 12-15 min into baking, and brush the top with a whisked egg yolk to create an egg wash.

Once fully baked and golden, remove from the oven, slice and serve with the sides of your choice.

For a keto version of a true French Canadian feast, pair this tourtière with roasted duck (or more traditionally turkey), mashed cauliflower (see our Roasted Mashed Cauiflower recipe), roasted radishes (see our Balsamic Roasted Radishes recipe) and coleslaw.