Rappie Pie

Rappie Pie (Pâté à la Rapure)

A Acadian casserole from the Maritime provinces and Quebec, rappie pie is built on a bed of grated, pressed potatoes (the 'rapure') that cradles a savory meat filling and bakes until golden on top. It is hearty, rustic fare originally devised as a way to stretch meat across a large family.

Prep

45 min

Cook

90 min

Total

135 min

Serves

6 to 8

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •1.5 kg (3¼ lb) russet potatoes, starchy potatoes give the best texture; peel before grating
• •500 g (1.1 lb) boneless beef chuck or stewing beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
• •500 g (1.1 lb) boneless pork shoulder, cut into bite-sized pieces
• •500 g (1.1 lb) bone-in chicken thighs and/or legs, skin on is traditional
• •1 whole (1 medium) yellow onion, quartered
• •2 whole bay leaves
• •10 g (2 tsp) salt, plus more for the potato water
• •2 g (1 tsp) black pepper, coarsely ground
• •30 g (2 tbsp) lard or unsalted butter, to grease the pan; traditional Acadian recipes use lard
• •240 ml (1 cup) reserved meat broth, see step 1

Steps

1. 1 Make the broth: combine the beef, pork, chicken, onion, bay leaves, 10 g salt, pepper, and 2 L (about 8½ cups) cold water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, skimming any foam, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered for about 60 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through (internal temperature 74 °C / 165 °F) and the pork and beef are tender. Remove the meats, strain and reserve at least 480 ml (2 cups) of broth, and discard the onion and bay leaves. Pull the chicken meat from the bones and tear all three meats into coarse shreds; keep warm.
2. 2 Grate the potatoes: while the broth simmers, peel the potatoes and grate them on the finest side of a box grater (or use the fine disc of a food processor). Work quickly so the potatoes do not turn pink.
3. 3 Press the rapure: working in handfuls, wrap the grated potato in a clean tea towel and squeeze firmly over a bowl to extract as much liquid as possible. You should get roughly 250-300 ml (1-1¼ cups) of starchy milk; reserve it and let it rest for a minute so the starch settles, then pour off and discard the watery liquid on top, keeping the wet white starch in the bowl.
4. 4 Season the potato: return the pressed potato to a large bowl and stir in the reserved starch. Pour over 240 ml (1 cup) of the hot meat broth and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon or your hands. The mixture should be moist and just hold together when pressed; add another splash of hot broth if it looks dry.
5. 5 Preheat the oven to 190 °C (375 °F). Grease a 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13 inch) baking dish generously with the lard or butter.
6. 6 Build the pie: spread about half the potato mixture evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the dish, forming a shell roughly 1.5 cm (½ inch) thick. Scatter the shredded meats over the potato base. Mound the remaining potato mixture over the top and pat down to seal the filling in completely, smoothing the surface.
7. 7 Bake uncovered for 75-90 minutes, until the top and edges are deeply golden brown and crisp. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil for the last 20 minutes.
8. 8 Rest the pie for at least 10 minutes before slicing so the layers set. Cut into squares and serve hot, traditionally with a simple green salad or pickled beets on the side.