It’s that time of year again. The season for food, family and, of course, pie. As Thanksgiving approaches, check Wildlife for a pie a week to help you impress your friends and family. This week, we’ll start off with something that’s simple but packs a punch of flavor: a traditional apple pie made with Arizona’s own Wilcox apples. These apples can be purchased at any Whole Foods location or at Tucson’s farmer markets.
Pie crust is simple to make with a little care. This recipe will make two 9-inch pie crusts: the top and bottom crusts for your apple pie. The key is making sure that your butter and water are very cold.
Mix together flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add in chopped up butter and use fingers to start mixing it into dry ingredients. Mush it all together until it is about the consistency of dry oatmeal. Begin to add in your water. Do it only a little bit at a time until the dough is totally pulled together, but not wet or sticky. Be careful not to overwork your dough. Once it has come together, make a disk and wrap your dough in plastic wrap. Put in into the refrigerator for at least an hour.
Once your crust is in the fridge you’ll pull together your filling. Peel your apples and slice them into thin pieces. In a large bowl, mix your apples along with your dry ingredients together and set a side. Take a whiff of the apples; they’ll smell amazing.
Once your filling has been prepared, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Coat your rolling pin and counter or cutting board with flour. Roll dough until it’s about as thick as a quarter — not too thin, because you need to transfer it to your baking dish. You can use a glass dish, ceramic dish or even a disposable pie pan. Make sure that the dough is rolled out large enough so that when it’s placed in the pie pan there will be some overhang. This will be about a 12-inch diameter. For easy transfer, roll your dough over a rolling pin and then unroll it onto your dish. Cut off the overhang and press the edges so they look nice. You can simply use a fork to create a nice edge with the prongs.
Roll out extra dough and cut out into shapes — I like leaves, given the season. Fill your crust with the apple filling and place the cutouts on top on your pie. Layer so that you’ve got leaves covering the entire top of the pie. Let the leaves overlap but leave some tiny gaps — this will let steam escape.
Place your pie onto a baking sheet to catch any overflow, and bake about 50 minutes. In the last 10 minutes, keep an eye on your pie. If your crust starts to get too brown or looks ready too early, place a loose piece of foil over the top for the remaining time. Allow your pie to cool and enjoy. Try some fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream as an accompaniment.
