This dairy-free tourtiere from Sharmans Proper Pies in Toronto has a crisp and flakey crust stuffed with the classic French-Canadian filling of ground pork, onions, and celery seasoned with bay leaves, savoury, rosemary, nutmeg and cinnamon. The filling is bound together with rolled oats which makes the pie easy to slice and serve. Tourtière is a traditional French Canadian Christmas Eve dish as part of Réveillon, or the long feast before Christmas Day. Many kids growing up in French speaking communities would fill their bellies with this decadent meal before tucking into bed awaiting Santa's visit.. Tourtière was first documented in 1840 in the first ever French Canadian cookbook La Cuisinière Canadienne. Sharmans makes their pastry the classic way with good old fashioned lard, instead of hydrogenated seed oils.

COOKING TIP: From freezer to table in less than an hour, you don’t have to wait till the holidays to enjoy this savoury pie, it's a perfect cold weather midweek dinner. Simply transfer to a 400°F oven, and bake until an internal temperature of 71°C (160°F) and the crust is golden brown. In our family we serve this with a homemade rhubarb chutney, but it's just as delicious with apple sauce, or even ketchup. Each pie is 9 inches wide, and easily serves a family of four or more.