Apple Slab Pie

I had never heard of a slab pie until earlier this summer. I was totally intrigued by the idea and started digging around to find more. The regular pie shape does not lend itself well to picnics or potlucks. The slab pie works perfectly though. You can cut it up in advance so people can serve themselves and you could even eat it without utensils in a pinch. It also has the distinct advantage of a higher crust vs. filling ratio for those of us who really like pie crust-especially the part that's all gooey from the filling.

I used the pie crust recipe that I fell in love with last week (find it here) and just rolled it out to fit a jelly roll pan. It took me a while to get it to the right dimensions, and had I not already prepped that pan I would have seriously considered switching to a smaller one. It was a bit of a pain, but I'm so glad I persevered. The crust was flakey and delicate and was a perfect match for my grandmother's apple pie recipe. Naturally everyone prefers their own family recipe, but I really do love the play of this blend of spices with a fresh fall apple.

It might also taste really good with a cup of tea for breakfast. Any dessert I'm still thinking about the next morning is a winner in my book :)


My Grandmother's Apple Pie Filling:
6 cups Apples, roughly chopped
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2- tbsp clearjel powder, flour or tapioca
1 tbsp butter, chopped into small pieces
Enough of your favorite pie crust recipe to cover a double pie. (Here's my go-to recipe)


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix all the ingredients except butter in a large bowl and let sit while you roll out the crust. For a traditional round pie, roll into 2 circles about 1/8 in thick and 2 inches larger than your pie plate. For a slab pie, roll into a rectangle about 1/8 in thick and 1-2 inches larger than the pan. (Unless you are really comfortable rolling out pie dough, I would start with a 9x9 or 10x13 pan)

Once the bottom layer of crust is in the dish pour the fruit mixture in. Dot the butter over the mixture and then cover with the top crust and seal the edge. Cut several slits in the crust and bake for 45-50 minutes when the crust is crisp and slightly browned. (The slab pie version will be done on the earlier end and a traditional pie will be slightly longer. Check around 40 and watch the top for browning.)

Just for fun, I drizzled a little caramel sauce I had in the fridge over the pie. It was a yummy bonus, but don't go buying or making caramel for such a little drizzle.

Pie Crust

When I first started baking pies I always used a store bought crust. Still do every once in a while. Sometimes it's just faster and you need the slack somewhere. (My Grandma told me she does too, so as far as I'm concerned, that means it's totally ok.)

When I have the time though, I try to make the crust from scratch. The homemade dough is flakier, more delicate, and just generally tastier...not to mention it's free of a few extra pesky chemicals. You'll notice the last time I made a pie on here I told you to just use your favorite crust though. That's because I was waffling around several different versions and wasn't sure which was "the one". I know over the course of this blog I will probably change my mind, but for now, I think I have one recipe that is consistently delicious. It's an amalgamation of a few posts floating around online from Martha Stewart, Michelle at Brown Eyed Baker and Deb at Smitten Kitchen. I took step by step pictures to show you what it looked like throughout the process. Tomorrow I'll show you what I ended up making with this batch of dough!

The key to a really great crust seems to be keeping the butter cold. You want those chunks of butter to steam while it's cooking, not melt while it's outside the pan. Keeping it cold is especially hard this time of year, so this first step made a big difference. After you cut the butter-put the plate in the freezer for at least ten minutes. Some people even suggest that you put EVERYTHING in the fridge...flour, mixing bowl, etc. I think this might just be overkill for me, but if you find it makes a huge difference, let me know!

You can make it with a food processor or a pastry cutter. I don't have a pastry cutter, so obviously I prefer this method. It also seems a lot less intimidating if you are putting it in a machine. If you don't have a food processor, but you do have a pastry cutter, check out Deb's post on Smitten Kitchen. She prefers to do it by hand. 

The next step is to get all the dry ingredients into the food processor and blitz it for a few seconds to combine them. 

Then you want to add that nice cold butter and blitz for 5-10 one second pulses. The ultimate goal is to have the chunks in the mixture be the size of a pea, but since you still have the ice water to add you want to have slightly bigger chunks at this point. They probably won't be uniform either. Add the 4 tablespoons of ice water in, and pulse again for very short bursts until you see those pea sized chunks. If you need to add more ice water, do it slowly, but it seems to be better to err on the side of a wet dough than dry. You will be adding flour to the dough as it gets rolled out, so keep that in mind if your dough is really dry at this point.

Once you hit the consistency you want, pour the mixture out of the food processor and form into two discs. Wrap in clear plastic wrap and put them in the fridge for at least an hour.

When you are ready to roll the dough out, lightly cover your surface with flour and slowly begin rolling the dough out. Patience is key here, and if you need to stick it back in the fridge multiple times to keep it cold while you roll it out-do it. It's easier to take the breaks than to deal with the constant frustration of tearing and sticking dough. 

After you get the right size, fold it in half or thirds and peel off the rolling surface. Lay in the pie pan and gently unfold and set in place. Follow the pie recipe you are working with for the filling and baking. 

Pie Crust
(makes enough for a pie with a double crust-halve the recipe if you only need a bottom crust)
Adapted from Martha Stewart, Smitten Kitchen and Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
2 sticks of cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
4 tbs ice water (you might need another 2-4 tbs, but add one at a time)

Cut the butter into 1/2 inch pieces and then pop them in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
In the bowl of a food processor, briefly pulse together the salt, sugar and flour. Add in the butter and pulse 5-10 times for 1-2 seconds each until the mixture there are some large and small chunks. Add in the ice water and pulse again in short bursts until the chunks are approximately the size of a pea.
Form the dough into two discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour (and up to 3 days) before rolling it out.
To roll it out-prepare a clean surface (I like to use parchment paper) and dust with flour. Gently roll into the shape and size you need. If the dough is starting to tear or stick to the rolling pin, put it back in the fridge for a few minutes (as many times as you need to). Once it's the right size, peel off the paper and fold gently over before transferring it to the pie pan where you can unfold and shape it.
Bake as directed by your pie recipe.

Egg and Prosciutto Pie

Savory pies are really one of the most underrated foods out there. It's not that people don't enjoy them-they just don't get the coverage they deserve. Maybe that's an American thing? We tend to go straight for a burger or a sandwich. Or maybe it was that I was such a picky eater as a child I never discovered savory pies until I was an adult?

Either way, I adore them now. Even better-the boys (big and little) love them as well. I make more of them over the winter, but last week was just so crazy we decided a little comfort food was in order. This particular pie started out life as Nigella's Boxing Day Pie. I switched up the bacon for prosciutto, mainly because I am always looking for an excuse to eat prosciutto and I'm entirely ambivalent about bacon. Pancetta works really well in this too, so use whichever you prefer. There is more meat than egg so it doesn't run quite into quiche consistency, but it's along the same idea-just wrapped up in pie dough. I think it will be really fun to play around with the filling this winter. Since the egg is reminscent of a quiche or frittata those recipes would be my starting point- maybe a mexican version with chorizo and cilantro? Darn it, I really shouldn't write these posts when I'm hungry already!

Egg and Prosciutto Pie
adapted from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

Crust:
You can use your favorite recipe...I still haven't found "the one" but I love The Pioneer Woman's pie crust tutorial or the Brown Eyed Baker's version. In a pinch you could even use store bought (shh, I won't tell!)

Filling:
2 cups prosciutto, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 green onions, diced
4 eggs
3 tbsp chopped parsley


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Make your favorite pie crust and put the bottom layer in the pie dish.

Saute the prosciutto and onion with some black pepper to taste until the prosciutto is starting to crisp up and the onion is translucent. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, parsley and green onions together.

Pour the prosciutto mixture on top of the pie crust dough and then pour the egg mixture on top of that. Add the second rolled out piece of pie dough and pinch the edges together. Slice a small hole in the center of the crust to let out steam and put it in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes and serve.