Ingredients

  • FOR THE PASTRY:
  • 1-1/2 cup Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoons Salt
  • 10 Tablespoons Cold Butter, Cut Up
  • 6 Tablespoons Vegetable Shortening
  • 6-1/2 Tablespoons Ice Water
  • FOR THE FILLING:
  • 2/3 cups White Sugar
  • 1/3 cups Cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoons Nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoons Salt
  • 3-1/2 pounds Granny Smith Apples; Peeled, Cored, And Thinly Sliced
  • 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter, Cut Up
  • 1 whole Egg White Lightly Beaten
  • 1 teaspoon Sugar

Method

  • To prepare pastry: In a food processor with knife blade attached, blend flour and salt. Add butter and shortening, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle in ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time pulsing after each addition, until large moist crumbs just begin to form.
  • Shape dough into 2 balls, 1 slightly larger than the other. Flatten each into a disk; wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place a cookie sheet on rack in lower third of the preheating oven to bake pie on later.
  • To prepare apple filling: In a large bowl, combine sugar with cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add apples and lemon juice, and toss to coat evenly.
  • On a lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll the larger disk of dough into 12-inch round. Ease dough into a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish glass or ceramic pie plate. Gently press dough against bottom and up side of plate without stretching. Trim dough edges, leaving 1-inch overhang; reserve trimmings. Spoon apple mixture into pie crust; dot with butter.
  • Roll remaining disk for top crust into a 12-inch round. Center the round over the filling. Trim pastry edges, leaving 1-inch overhang; reserve trimmings. Fold overhang under; bring it up over pie-plate rim and pinch to form a stand-up edge, then make a decorative edge however you like. Brush crust with some egg white. Cut short slashes in the top crust, to allow steam to escape during baking. Then sprinkle crust with sugar.
  • Bake pie 1 hour 10 minutes or until apples are tender when pierced with knife through the slits in the crust. To prevent over-browning, cover pie loosely with a tent of foil after 40 minutes. Cool pie on wire rack 3 hours to serve warm. Serve a la mode, with vanilla ice cream.