You’ve gone apple picking, or perhaps are joining the Red Jacket Orchard CSA – either way there are plenty of apples around, and I’ve got just the recipe for them! This apple pie recipe is the very best one I’ve ever made – mostly because you pre cook the apples so the pie is dense with fruit and not watery at all. There’s also very little sugar added. I adapted it from a recipe I found on the Food Network website, which you can find here.
What you need:
About 8 Large Apples
1 Lemon
1/4 Cup of Sugar
1 Frozen pie crust (top and bottom – they come in a pack this way)
4 Tablespoons of Butter
Cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to taste.
1 egg, beaten for an egg wash
For my pie I used one half peck of apples (1 small back from the farm). I’d say it was about 8 very large apples. If you use large apples, it’s less peeling / coring work, which is key. I also buy a pie crust. In my opinion the frozen pie crust you can get at the store is very tasty and there’s no sense in the hassle of making your own crust.
Preheat your oven to 375. When the oven is hot, pre bake your bottom crust (prick it a few times with a fork, put it in the oven for 5-8 minutes, then remove it and let it cool). This keeps it fro getting mushy. Leave the other pie crust out on the counter while you make the filling so that it can thaw to room temperature.
Peel and core your apples, slice into 1/8″ (ish) slices. Put in a large bowl and squeeze one lemon over the slices – be sure not to get any seeds in. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of sugar. Toss the apples together with the lemon juice and sugar.
Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter in a large pot – I use a large copper pot, or a cast iron pot. Put the apples in the pot and toss in the butter. Cover, cook on medium high. Every few minutes toss them around a bit and re cover. In about 10 minutes the apples will become softer and release a lot of juice. See pictures 1 and 2.
Pour the apples into a strainer over a bowl. This will separate the juice from the apples. Pour the juice back in the pot and put it over the heat. The juice will reduce after a few minutes to a nice deep caramel. Add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. These are to taste – if you like more spice, go for it. Add a pinch of salt. See pictures 3 and 4.
Add the apples back into the caramel and toss. There won’t really be a lot of liquid, which is good.
Pour the apples into the crust which should be on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure to mound them nice and high. Flip the other pie crust over the pie and use a fork to crimp the sides together. Brush the top with a beaten egg – this makes it nice and shiny and pretty. Sprinkle on a little sugar. Bake until the pie is golden brown – about 30 minutes? Keep an eye on it towards the end. See pictures 5 and 6.
FYI if you have extra apples that you can’t fit in the pie, put them in a ziploc bag and freeze them for another time. Or, let your little one eat them!
Let the pie cool for at least an hour before slicing. Then enjoy! See picture 7 – aren’t you hungry?!
