Deep-dish apple pie

LOTS OF APPLES, NO BOTTOM CRUST. A SIMPLE WAY TO CELEBRATE HARVEST

Serves 8 For the pastry:

150g plain white flour 1 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for dusting 1 pinch sea salt 75g cold unsalted butter, cubed 3-4 tbsp cold water 1 egg, whisked

For the filling:

12 medium-sized apples squeeze of lemon juice 250g sugar 2 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tbsp melted butter 1-2 tbsp water or brandy

1 Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/400F. Have a 23-24cm pie dish at the ready. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter and rub in with your fingers till it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the water over the mix, 1 tbsp at a time, mixing lightly with a fork till all the flour is moistened.

2 Gather the dough into a ball and pop in freezer for 10 mins to firm up. Cut a sheet of greaseproof paper in a square a bit larger than your pie dish.

3 Roll the chilled pastry on a floured surface until it’s as thin as a £1 coin, and as large as the square of greaseproof you cut.

4 Cut the pastry into 2cm-thick strips. Set the greaseproof paper on a baking sheet. Weave the strips of pastry on the paper. Bundle any excess pastry into a ball and place the woven pastry in the fridge to chill for 10 mins.

5 Peel, quarter and cut the cores from the apples. Slice 1cm thick and toss with a squeeze of lemon juice.

6 Mix the apples with the sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. Pile into a pastry dish and sprinkle with 1-2 tbsp water or brandy.

7 Use the greaseproof paper to help you quickly flip the interwoven pastry over the pie. Gently remove the paper from the pastry. Trim the edges to fit the pie dish.

8 Roll the excess pastry into a 72cm strip. Cut the pastry into 3 thin strips (each roughly 1cm wide). Slightly overlap the pastry strips at the top and brush with the whisked egg. Plait the pastry strips togethezr.

9 Brush the lattice pastry with the egg. Carefully arrange the plait around the edge of the pie dish. Give the plait a gloss of egg, too. Sprinkle a dusting of sugar over the top and bake in the centre of the oven for 45 mins or till the top is golden and the apples are tender to a prod with a fork.

Harvest time is probably the closest British equivalent to Thanksgiving. What better way to mark it than by putting all those fruit and veg to their best use – in some sweet and sticky puds? It’s what the apples would have wanted, we think. Top right:...