Like a Pie, But Not a Pie

My daughter has a friend who goes around saying "Hi, I like pie."
Well, who doesn't?

Pie is as all-American as it gets. It's moms in aprons, screen doors slamming and front porches. Pie is like Bruce Springsteen, baseball and the Fourth of July all mixed together then finished off with a heaping scoop of Thanksgiving.

Is there pie in France?
Tartes, oui. Pies, non.


And Italy? No pie.
But there is crostada. And I have to admit to a real fondness for crostada.
It's a little like pie in that there's a crust and a fruit filling.
But it's also a little like a dolce pizza, so it can be sliced into wedges and eaten by hand. Plus this crostada has an apple crisp-like topping.

What's not to like about that?

And aside from letting the dough chill in the fridge, it's very quick and simple to make. I think it's less of a time investment than pie, but the taste is certainly no compromise.

Apple Maple Crostada, adapted from Barefoot Contessa


Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsps. granulated or superfine sugar

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 lb. (one stick) very cold, unsalted butter, diced

2 Tbsps. ice water

Filling:
3 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into large dice
(I use a mix of Golden Delicious, McIntosh and whatever else there is at the market. Try not to use just McIntosh, as they'll get too mushy.)

2 Tbsps. pure maple syrup

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. each ground cinnamon and allspice

4 Tbsps. (1/2 stick) butter

For the crust, place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse 12-15 more times, or until the butter is pea-sized. Then with the motor running, add the ice water all at once. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop just before the dough becomes one solid ball. Remove from food processor and place on a well-floured surface. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Flour a rolling pin and either a large cutting board or your countertop. Roll dough into a large circle (or some semblance of a round shape) and transfer to a lined baking sheet.

Toss apple pieces with maple syrup and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Cover the dough with apple pieces, leaving a 1 1/2" border all around.

Combine the flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and allspice in a small bowl. Add the butter and with your hands, rub all ingredients until they start to stick together. Sprinkle mixture evenly on top of the apples. Gently fold the the pastry border up and over the apples, enclosing them around the edges, pleating and folding as necessary.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender. Allow to cool before serving. To serve, cut into wedges.

Coming later this week...the blog-iversary with giveaway. Stay tuned!

Easy as Pie

First, a very warm welcome to my new subscribers! Thanks so much for reading. Please feel free to comment. It's much easier than you think.

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Speaking of easy, it doesn't get any easier than this pie. It's embarassingly simple.

Yet so tasty and refreshing. I've made it twice already. It's from one of my favorite food blogs, StickyGooeyCreamyChewy. The author, Susan, writes a nice little piece about how we shouldn't be afraid to make such humble food from ingredients that aren't organic, artisanal, local or otherwise special. Plus her photos are way more spectacular than mine.

Frozen Lemonade Pie

from StickyGooeyCreamyChewy

1 large store-bought graham cracker pie crust

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk, chilled

1 12 oz. container Cool Whip, thawed

1 6 fluid oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate (keep frozen)

In a medium bowl, place Cool Whip and condensed milk. Fold gently together.

Add frozen lemonade concentrate and continue to fold gently. Do not let mixture become soupy.

Pour mixture into pie crust and allow to freeze for several hours or overnight.

It's that easy.