Spiced Sausage & Apple Pie

Recipe Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

For Pie Crust

• 2 1/4 sticks (254 grams) unsalted butter, frozen
• 2 cups (256 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (40 grams) whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons very cold water, plus more if needed

For Filling

• 2 pounds ground pork (or turkey) sausage, cooked and drained
• 3 medium sized apples (like Gala, Fuji, or Pink Lady)
• 1 large onion
• 1 cup apple cider or apple juice
• 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• Plenty of onion and garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground mace
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice

Directions

For Pie Crust:

In a large bowl, combine the flours, salt, sugar and black pepper. Use the large holes on a box grater to grate the butter directly into the dry ingredients, and stir together with a fork. Add the water, adding more tablespoon by tablespoon if needed just until it holds together.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into two portions. One should be slightly larger than the other. The larger one will be our bottom crust, the smaller one will be the top crust. Wrap both of these blobs in plastic, then press down to form a well-sealed disc. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before rolling and assembling the pie. (I typically let mine rest overnight)

For Filling:

In a large, shallow frying pan, cook the sliced apples with the onion, salt, cider or juice, and sugar for 15 minutes, or until the apples are tender and the liquid is syrupy.

Stir the cooked sausage into the apple mixture, and remove the pan from the heat. Add the pepper and the rest of the spices. TASTE IT. If the seasoning is to your preference, refrigerate for at least one hour, but preferably overnight.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Take the pie dough discs out of the fridge, unwrap, and let hang out on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes.

Roll out the larger disc into a 12-inch circle and set into a 9-inch glass deep dish pie pan. Use your fingers to gently press the dough into the corners of the pan, so it’s as snug as can be. Roll out the smaller disc into a 10- to 11-inch circle. Fill the dough-lined pie pan with the cold sausage-apple filling and use a spoon to smooth out to fill the pan completely.

From here, you can either place the second rolled out disc of pie dough on top of the pie, or cut it into strips and arrange them in a lattice design on top of the pie. Your choice.

Trim any excess so you have an even ¾-inch overhang. Use your fingers to squeeze the two layers together, then fold the overhang under itself, so the edge is tucked into the pie pan and a ridge is formed. Use the tines of a fork to seal the ridges all around.

Place the pie pan on a rimmed sheet pan you’ve lined with aluminum foil (this makes getting in and out of the oven a lot simpler, and also saves on mess from possible seepage.)

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the pie crust is golden brown. Let sit for about 15-20 minutes before slicing.