Country apple pie

Ingredients

1 recipe for a double-crust pastry (below)
1 egg white, lightly beaten
6 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples
1 tbsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar, plus extra for finishing
2 tbsp. flour
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tbsp. butter, diced to small pieces
Milk

Flaky double-crust pastry
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shortening, chilled
4 to 6 tbsp. ice water

Directions

Prepare the pastry according to your recipe, below. Line a 9-inch pie plate with half of the pastry. Lightly brush the sides and bottom of the pastry with egg white. Allow pastry to stand 20 minutes before filling.

Sprinkle apples with lemon juice and toss to coat evenly. In a separate bowl, toss together 3/4 cup sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add apple slices to the dry ingredients and toss to coat apples evenly. Gently pour apples into the unbaked pie shell. Dot with butter pieces. Trim crust to fit the edge of the pie plate. Place remaining pastry over the filling and crimp edge as desired. Cut slits in the top of the pie to vent the steam. Brush the top crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Cover the edges of the pie with strips of aluminum foil. Bake at 375 degrees (350 degrees if using a convection oven) for 40 minutes. Remove foil strips and continue baking 20 minutes longer or until the filling is bubbling through the slits on the top of the crust. Cool at least 2 hours before serving.

Serves 8

Flaky double-crust pastry
Place flour and salt in a shallow bowl and cut in shortening with a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Adding 1 tablespoon of water at a time, sprinkle the water over the mixture and mix it in lightly and quickly using a fork, just until the dough sticks together. Shape dough into 2 balls. Place one ball on a lightly floured pastry cloth or sheet of wax paper. Roll the ball into a circle until it is about 3 inches larger than the circumference of the pie pan. Gently fit the circle of dough into the pan and follow the instructions for the pie filling.

For the top crust, roll remaining dough as you did the first half and fit it over the filled pie pan. Trim the edges to fit the pan. Crimp the edge together or press the top crust with the tines of a fork to seal the top crust to the bottom crust. Bake as directed in your pie recipe.

Makes 1 double-crust, 9-inch pie