Apple Cranberry Pie with Cheese! Crust

Sometimes the best dishes come about because I’ve forgotten about some ingredients that I don’t want to lose, like this Apple Cranberry Pie with Cheese! Crust. Ok, that’s an understatement. Worry about what’s still in the fridge happens to me a lot; it’s a peril of grocery shopping for a living. But this Apple Cranberry Pie with Cheese! Crust is a real winner. It all started with a trip to Wisconsin this summer. I got to go to a beautiful dairy, Upland Dairy, near Dodgeville and an awesome cheese shop in Madison, called Fromagination. In honor of my father I bought his favorite cheddar. It’s an aged bandaged cheddar from Bleu Mount Dairy. I also bought a lot of other special cheeses, but those were eaten right away. The other day I was cleaning out my cheese drawer, and what did I find, but the awesome cheddar. Epic fail! It was sort of dry. Rather than eat it in less than perfect condition, and rather than throw it away, I started brainstorming how to use a very dry cheddar that still had awesome flavor. It definitely needed to be grated, so the brainstorming started there. I didn’t have any pasta or other cheese, so Decadent Mac n’ Cheese was out. Then I noticed some sad looking apples in the fruit drawer. That reminded me of an English tradition that filtered down through the Colonial United States of a piece of cheddar on apple pie. Cheddar and apples and hot buttery pastry? That had potential in my mind. I peeled and sliced the apples and it became clear to me that I didn’t have enough. To the freezer I went as it was too rainy to go to the store and it would violate the kitchen sink cooking mission of the day. Success! in the form of  frozen white and red cranberries leftover from last winter. Perfect. And that’s the story of the Apple Cranberry Pie with Cheese! Crust.

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Apple Cranberry Pie with Cheese

Apple Cranberry Pie with Cheese! Crust encourages putting cheese in the crust rather than on the crust and it leads to a truly flakey flavorful crust.

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time50 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Author: Barrett Bridenhagen

Ingredients

• Pastry for a 9-inch Two-crust Pie
• 4-5 ounces sharp aged cheddar it should be dry and hard like a parmesan or use parm
• 6 apples I think using multiple varieties is key. I used granny smith, honey crisp and pink ladies
• 2 cups cranberries fresh or frozen
• 1 + cups sugar a little more if you like because of the cranberries, or keep it tart and add vanilla ice cream
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or powder
• 1 lemon; zest and juice

Instructions

• Peel and slice the apples and place them in a large bowl.
• Add the zest of one lemon. Add the juice from the lemon too.
• Add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla paste.
• Add the cranberries. Toss well.
• Preheat 425° F.
• Cut the rind off the cheddar or parmesan (if there is one).
• Place in the food processor and pulse until it’s in tiny pieces (I didn’t go all the way to a powder).
• Follow the pastry recipe with the addition of the grated cheese.
• Roll out thin.
• Add the fruit.
• Roll out the second layer and place over the fruit. Crimp the edges.
• Set your pie on a sheet pan- you’ll thank me later for this advice. Bake 10 – 15 minutes and reduce heat to 350° F. Bake 40-60 minutes (on the long side for frozen cranberries like mine- shorter for fresh. Make sure the apples are tender by poking them with a pairing knife. 
• Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.
• 

Notes

And now you have all those beautiful apple peels for an Apple Ribbon Whiskey Spritz.
Think this looks awesome, but don't want to make your own and you live in Philly? Order one now for Thanksgiving!