Green Chilli Apple Crumble Pie

Wotchers!

As I believe I’ve mentioned before, I tend to get side-tracked a lot when browsing the internet, and the inspiration for this week’s recipe is the result of just such a wandering.

Apple and cheese is a classic combination, and together with some smoked ham is one of my favourite toasted sandwiches. But that’s another story. In Yorkshire, it is traditional for Wensleydale cheese to be served alongside slices of apple pie, and a saying dating back over 250 years tells us

‘An apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze.’

An alternative to serving cheese alongside, is to bake it into the pastry, where it rounds out the flavour of the apple deliciously, without being obvious.

The recipe today pushes this a little bit further by adding green chillies to the apple mixture, and is an adaptation of one served at Chile Pies and Ice Cream, in San Francisco.

Although I found several versions of the pie online, after baking it as per the original, I decided that it needed tinkering with (sorry Chile Pies and Ice Cream!) and the results are below. I was unable to find the roasted chillies specified in the original recipe (Confession: I didn’t even look), so I went with fresh chillies and de-seeded them, which I found gave a real freshness and just enough of a hint of heat without swamping everything. Adding the zest of the lemon as well as the juice really brings out the apple flavour and I’ve reduced the amount of spices, which I found too strong in the original. Even with almost double the original amount of cheese in the pastry, the flavour is not too much, so if you want to go really cheesy, maybe add some grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano, and as always, the dry mustard powder really rounds out the flavour. The walnuts in the crumble tended to burn very easily, so I swapped them for oats which I love for their nutty crunchiness.

Bramley Apples are fabulous for this recipe. For anyone who is unlucky enough not to be familiar with them, they are a specialist cooking apple grown in the UK. When cooked, they hold their shape until touched, whereupon the apple pieces dissolve into a froth of apple snow, literally melting in the mouth (if that is possible with hot food). If you’re unable to find any Bramley Apples, use a sharp dessert apple such as Braeburn, which will hold its shape and not release too much juice – which means you might want to reduce/omit the cornflour in the filling. Also, reduce the oven temperature to 180°C, 160°C Fan and cook a little longer.

2020 Update

I’ve updated the recipe with a different (cornflour) pastry and used parmesan cheese instead of cheddar for a real cheesy flavour. I halved the sugar, removed the spices from the filling and slightly increased the lemon flavouring to give a real freshness and zing. The crumble topping remains the same, because it’s awesome.

Green Chilli Apple Crumble Pie

Pastry
140g unsalted butter
100g grated parmesan cheese
225g plain flour
60g cornflour
ice water to mix

Filling
60g caster sugar
30g cornflour
zest & juice of 1 small lemon
2 Bramley Apples
2 fresh green chillis

Crumble
20g butter
20g lard
20g light Muscovado sugar
60g plain flour
Pinch of salt
40g steel rolled oats

• Cheese Pastry
  • Put the butter, cornflour, cheese and flour into a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
  • Slowly add the ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together in a ball.
  • Tip out the pastry and knead a few times until smooth.
  • Wrap in plastic and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes, remove from the fridge and roll out to about 5mm.
  • Grease two 20cm loose-bottomed tart tins and line with the pastry. Alternatively, make 8 individual tarts.
  • Do not trim the pastry, but chill the tarts in the fridge for 30 minutes, in order to allow for any shrinkage. Trim excess pastry when ready to fill the tarts.

• Filling
  • Mix the sugar, cornflour and lemon zest in a bowl and set aside.
  • De-seed the chillis and chop finely.
  • Peel, core and chop the apples into 1cm dice.
  • Put the chopped apples into a bowl and toss in the lemon juice.
  • Scatter over the chillis.
  • Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the apples and chillis and stir gently to combine.
  • Divide the filling between the tarts.

• Crumble
  • Put the butter, lard, sugar, salt and flour into a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
  • Tip the mixture into a bowl and stir in the oats.
  • Sprinkle over the apple fillings.

• To Bake
  • Preheat the oven to 200°C, 180ºC Fan.
  • Put the tart tins onto a baking sheet, preferably one with a raised edge, as there might be some overflowing of juices.
  • Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the baking sheet around 180 degrees and bake for a further 15-20 minutes. For individual tarts, begin baking the same way, but cook for just 10 minutes after turning the baking sheet.
  • Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tins and cool on a wire rack.

• Serve warm with pouring cream