Nothing says fall harvest season like apples, and this year was a fantastic apple harvest! The very first thing you should make with all those apples is pie. Just because pie. Yum! After you get tired of apple pie (I've heard it happens eventually), that's when you make all the apple sauce, apple cake, etc. But not until you have had your fill of pie and thrown a few in the freezer for later.
Feel free to use any apples you have on hand (or on tree) for this recipe. A combination of apples will add complexity and a variety of textures in the filling, which is always good.
This is a basic, no nonsense apple pie recipe. You can, of course, fancy it up with added spices (cardamom or tonka bean is really nice) or add dried fruit to the filling (think cranberries or currants) and you can always add some shredded cheddar to the crust. But sometimes good old-fashioned, traditional apple pie is what you are really craving. Well, here it is. Don't forget to serve it warm with a big scoop of real vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients
6 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon or nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp all purpose flour, optional
2 homemade or purchased deep dish pie crusts
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Combine sugar, cinnamon and salt in small bowl. If apples are quite juicy, add flour to the mixture as well.
Place half of apples in pie crust. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture on top. Pile on remaining apples, heaping in the middle. Sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture and dot all over with the butter.
Moisten edges of pie and top with second crust. Pat down so top crust is in contact with the filling. Seal the edges by fluting them or crimping them with a fork. Feel free to fancy up the top crust with cut outs or patterns of your choosing. Poke top crust with a fork to allow steam to escape.
Bake at 400 F for 40-50 minutes until golden brown and apples are tender.
Makes 1 pie.
Yummy gardening everyone!
Recipe adapted from The Purity Cookbook.
Helpful Tools
This is what we call an Apple-Peeler-Cutter-Corer in our family. It is a fantastic tool for preparing apples both big and small (it even works well on all but the smallest crab apples). The majority of the work in apple recipes is preparing the apples, and this guy can get it done in a matter of seconds. So much easier and quicker than hand peeling, coring and slicing yourself! I don't usually endorse products, but this gadget will save you huge amounts of time in the kitchen. This version is from Lee Valley Tools and is a well made, sturdy option. You can find it here if interested.
