28/03/2024
Pork Pie Recipe Passed Along Direct Female Line
Shared by Michele Mandrioli
My mother taught me the pork pie recipe that she had learned from her mother, who had learned it from her mother, my great-grandmother, whom I remember well. My great-grandmother learned it from her mother (pictured), but she was adopted by a family who took her from Canada to Marlborough, MA when she was about 10. So, she must have learned the recipe from her adoptive mother.
Pork Pie*
Marie Victorine Lavoie
BIRTH 4 JAN 1839 • Chambly (St-Joseph), Qc, Canada
DEATH 15 JAN 1916 • 104 Elm St, Marlborough, Middlesex Co, MA, USA
1 pie crust (top and bottom)
2 cups chopped onions
1 clove crushed garlic (optional)
Few ribs of inner part of celery (optional)
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. sausage roll (regular or sage flavored)
1 tsp. salt and ½ tsp. pepper
1 tablespoon of (Bell’s) poultry seasoning
½ cup water
6-8 Saltines, crushed
Extra salt, Bell’s seasoning, sage, thyme if needed
Put onions, celery and garlic (if used) in a food processor and pulse until evenly chopped.
Cook and stir until soft in a small amount of oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Break up the meats into small chunks, add and cook until all pink color is gone, breaking up any chunks with the edge of a wooden spoon. Add salt, pepper and Bell’s seasoning; cook and stir until well mixed. Cover and cook for about an hour, stirring and breaking up any chunks of meat every 15 minutes or so.
Drain off liquids and separate fat and water layers; discard the fat layer and return the water layer to the pan. Cook uncovered until most of the liquid has evaporated. Taste and add more salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, sage or thyme if needed. Add the cracker crumbs and mix well. Put into pie crust (or into empty pie pan if you want to freeze the meat for later use.)
Poke holes in the top crust and bake in preheated oven at 400°F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F (325°F for glass pie pan) and bake until crust browns and juices are bubbling. (½ hour to 45 min.)
*The meat mixture was also used to stuff chickens and turkeys.
