Apple-Green Chile Pie with Cheddar Crust & Walnut Streusel

Prep Methods/Techniques
Cuisine ,
Course ,
Servings 8
Description
I love making desserts. Unfortunately, I have a family of non-dessert eaters. The leftovers usually sit in the fridge for a week until I finally throw them out. There weren't enough of us to eat this whole pie when I baked it for Thanksgiving in 2010, but everyone had a piece and everyone loved it. We ate all the leftovers. Not surprisingly, the chef who created the recipe, for a restaurant in San Francisco, went to college in Santa Fe.
Noted on 3/8/2012
Ingredients
    For the crust:
  • 1 recipe All-Butter Pie Crust
    • For the filling:
  • 5 cup peeled and thickly sliced tart apples, such as Jonagold, Honeycrisp or Granny Smith
  • 1/2 cup chopped Hatch green chiles, hotter is better
  • 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
    • For the topping:
  • 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 4 tbsp butter, melted
    • To serve:
  • Vanilla Ice Cream
Method
    Crust
  1. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a circle at least 11 inches in diameter. Transfer to a 9-inch metal pie pan. Turn edges under to make a thick rim; flute rim by pinching into a zigzag pattern. Refrigerate until ready to bake, at least an hour.
    2. Filling
  2. In a large bowl, toss apples, green chiles and lemon juice together. In another bowl, mix dry ingredients and add to apples and chilies, tossing until thoroughly coated.
    3. Topping
  3. In a small bowl, mix flour, walnuts and brown sugar. Add melted butter and toss together until crumbly.
    4. Baking the pie
  4. Heat oven to 400°F. Using a slotted spoon, scoop filling into chilled crust, then drizzle with 2 tablespoons of juice from bottom of bowl. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Bake 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until filling bubbles at edge and crust is brown. Serve warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.
Cook's Notes
Ingredient Notes
When I made this pie, I used a really sharp aged cheddar cheese and hot New Mexican chiles that I had in the freezer. The cheddar flavor really came through. There really isn't enough chile in the filling to make it too hot.
Advance Prep
Crust dough can be made up to 3 days ahead and frozen for up to a month.
Prep Time
1 1/2 hours, plus chilling
Source/Adapted From
Chile Pies and Ice Cream restaurant in San Francisco by way of The New York Times