Weekly Recipe: Cheddar-Crusted Tart Apple Pie

Joshua chose this pie for his birthday this year instead of a cake. This is a real family favorite!

(from Ken Haedrich)
(Makes 1 9” pie. For a 9 ½” / 10” pie, use 1 ½ recipes filling.)

This is a mix between a sweet and savory pie.

Pastry

1 2/3 c. flour (I use soft wheat pastry)
1/3 c. stoneground yellow cornmeal
½ t. salt
10 T. unsalted butter
1 c. grated (raw) sharp cheddar cheese
~ ¼ c. ice cold water

Mix flour, cornmeal and salt in large bowl. Cut in butter. Sprinkle in cheese and lightly mix. Add enough cold water to make a dough that will hold together without cracking or dry spots. Divide dough into 2 balls, wrap each in a piece of plastic wrap, flatten balls to ~ 1/2” thick. Refrigerate at least 45 min. Roll out one at a time between wax paper for top and bottom crusts.

While dough is chilling, mix Filling.

5-6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced very thin
½ c. healthy sugar (or brown sugar)
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 t. Dijon mustard
¼ t. ground cloves
1 ½ T flour (pastry is fine)

Slice apples into very large bowl. Mix remaining ingredients except flour in small bowl. Pour over apples and mix well. Sprinkle flour over apples and mix well. Mound mixture in bottom crust and add top crust as usual. Slice vents.

Bake at 425 for15 minutes, pie crust edges covered. Lower to 375 and remove edge cover for ~45 more minutes or until juices are bubbling. Larger pies take longer.