Meatless Monday – Apple, Pear and Cranberry Pie

Fall is approaching – finally the past week’s heat wave has passed. Phew! We made it!

When my box from “Farm Fresh to You” came this past Friday, there were beautiful apples and pears inside. Since we’re leaving later this week, on a trip to the Grand Canyon, I wanted to make an effort to use what came so as not to waste it or leave it to potentially spoil before we return home. To me, one of the first things I think of when I hear “apple” is PIE!

Because I had pears in the box too, I figured, why not make an apple/pear pie..oh and then I had a few dried cranberries and decided to add them too…just kinda how it rolls here.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup vegan butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup ice water (plus more if needed)

1. Combine flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl.

2. Cut the butter into little pieces (I put it into the freezer for a few minutes to harden it and make it easier to cut up).

3.Use a pastry blender (or fork) to cut in the margarine pieces until the mixture resembles course bread crumbs.

4. Add water a little at a time and blend until the dough just starts to hold together.

5. Divide the dough into two round disks and wrap them in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

6. After 30 minutes, roll out one piece of dough on a lightly floured surface to approximately 10 inches in diameter.

7. Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie plate and trim the excess dough.

8. Roll out the other piece of dough and put aside.

Filling:

• 5 Apples – I pretty much just used the kind I had on hand, though I think Granny Smith are the preferred ones.
• 2 Pears
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vegan margarine

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Peel, core and cut the apples and pears into 1/4 inch slices.

3. In a large bowl, combine the slices of apples and pears with the cranberries, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch and cinnamon – mix well.

4. Spoon the filling into the bottom crust.

5. Cut the tablespoon of vegan butter into small pieces and place over the filling.

6. Place the top crust over the fruit and press the edges – make fancy crimps if you want to.

7. Pierce the top crust with a design of choice. (You can also cut figures out of the extra dough with cookie cutters and decorate the crust with them – also make little “pie-men” from the left-over pie crust.

8. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake until golden brown about 45 minutes.

9. Cool on a wire rack before serving, or be hyper like me and risk burning your mouth a bit (trust me, be patient).

Enjoy!
~ Lita