Holiday recipe: apple pie with olive-oil crust.

The next pie recipe I'm sharing from the three I made for Thanksgiving is an apple pie with an olive-oil crust. The advantages of an olive-oil crust are the unique taste, and the fact that it's vegan. 

However, I found that the crust was drier than a butter crust, and difficult to roll out and shape. Even with more water and olive oil, it just doesn't hold together as well as butter.

If you want a vegan pie or like the idea of experimenting with the savory flavor of olive oil, I'd recommend this crust, especially if you have previous experience with pie crust, which can be a bit tricky even when made with butter. It also helps to not be too invested in your crust looking perfect, as mine clearly does not.

Ingredients: 

(for the double crust)

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cup olive oil, frozen in a Ziplock bag to a sorbet consistency 

10 tbsp. ice water

(for the filling)

3 pounds Granny Smith apples

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie spice or any combination of cinnamon, ginger, cloves or other seasonings you like

2 tbsp. flour

Step 01. Preheat oven to 425 F. Combine crust ingredients in a food processor until just mixed. Do not over mix.

Step 02. Roll out dough on a floury surface, half at a a time. Place one disc in a pie plate or spring-form pan, trimming the edges to fit. Refrigerate dough.

Step 03. Peel and core the apples, slice each into 1/4-inch slices and place in a bowl

Step 04. Add both sugars, spices, and flour. Stir until apples are well covered.

Step 05. Fill crust with apple mixture. Top with second crust, pinching edges to seal. Cut several long gashes in top crust for steam to escape.

Step 06. Back for 25 minutes. Lower heat to 350 and back to 30 minutes more or until golden. Let cool at least half an hour before serving.

To my mind, the three most traditional pies for Thanksgiving are pumpkin, pecan, and apple. I wanted to make all three but with a special twist on each. You saw the twist on pecan yesterday (adding chocolate and bourbon - both of which will improve just about anything). The twist on apple is the olive-oil crust. Check in tomorrow for the twist on pumpkin. (A hint: I made it last year too; it's just that good!)

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