French Potato Pie (tourte aux pommes de terre)
Today I'm making French Potato Pie or Tourte aux pommes de terre, which is a specialty of central France.
Instructions
- To start, have your dough ready to be rolled out into 2 (12-inch diameter) rounds. 1 hour before baking the pie, start the filling. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, toss the sliced onion with the Kosher salt and set aside.Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large heavy-duty saucepot over high heat. Add the potatoes to the water with the 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. Return to a boil and cook for 1 minute, then drain the potatoes.Return the potatoes to the pot. In a measuring cup, add the heavy cream, freshly grated nutmeg, and fresh grated black pepper, and whisk together to combine. Then add the sliced onions with any of the accumulated liquid in the bowl. Bring this to a simmer over high heat. Adjust the heat to medium, simmer, and cook until the cream thickens, stirring gently and frequently, about 5 minutes. Don't worry if some of the potatoes break.Remove the pot from the heat, and allow the potato mixture to cool for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. Once the potato mixture has cooled, add the finely minced Italian flat-leaf parsley and fresh grated Gruyére cheese. Gently mix to combine.On a well-floured surface, roll 1 disk of the dough into a 12-inch round. Loosely roll the dough around a rolling pin and gently unroll it onto a 9-inch pie plate, letting the excess dough hang over the edge. Ease the dough into the plate by gently lifting the edge of the dough with your hand while placing it into the plate bottom with your other hand. Refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 30 minutes.Roll the second disk of dough onto a well-floured surface into another 12-inch round. Transfer it to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet pan, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.Preheat the oven to 450°F.Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position. Transfer the potato mixture to the dough-lined pie plate and, using a rubber spatula, spread it into an even layer. It's fine if the potato mixture is still slightly warm. Using a round tip from a pastry bag, insert the tip into the center of the second dough round. This hole is to allow for the steam to escape. I like doing 3 holes in a triangular pattern because I can never seem to get the hole in the dead center of the dough, lol. Loosely roll the dough around the rolling pin and gently unroll it over the filling. Line the holes up with the center of the pie, leaving a half-inch overhang all around. Fold the dough under itself so the edge of the fold is flush with the outer rim of the pie plate.Using the tines of a fork, gently press down all around the edges of the dough, crimping the dough to seal the pie. Place the pie on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. In a small bowl, whisk together beaten eggs with 1 tablespoon of heavy cream. Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash. Bake until the top is light golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes.Adjust oven temperature to 325°F.Remove the pie from the oven. Loosely cover the entire pie with foil. This will prevent the edges of the pie from burning before the potatoes are tender and cooked through. Continue to bake for 30 minutes. At this point, remove the foil and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes more or until the crust is a deep golden brown and the potatoes are tender. You can check this by inserting a paring knife into the potatoes by using one of the pie venting holes.Let the pie cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. There you have it, my French Potato Pie.There you have it, my French Potato Pie.
Notes
1) I had a little extra dough left over. I rolled out the dough and used my leaf-dough cutters to decorate the pie.
2) If you do consume eggs, substitute a milk product for the egg wash.
3) You can make the pie crust up to 2 days in advance. To get my recipe for Homemade Pie Crust, click at the bottom of this post.
4) Linda Lou Hamel is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value are important to you, I recommend running the ingredients through the online nutritional calculator of your choice. Calories and values can vary depending on the brands you choose.