A Collaborative Ladies Night Effort: Sausage, Apple, and Cheese Pie

Too many cooks in the kitchen? Yes please. My kitchen, though pretty functional, is narrow and small, but my favorite way to cook is with my lady friends, glasses of red wine in one hand, knives in the other. Seems precarious, but we seem to have it down.

So much for eating lighter meals after the new year, but sometimes after the stress of the holidays, you need to eat things such as this sausage/cheese pie that Kate, Meghan and I made the other week. But hey, it has apples in it! The photos are kind of crappy, but eating it was the higher priority here.

We used a deep dish pie dish, so Meghan increased the amount of pie dough a bit, and we used a whole onion instead of half and a pound of sausage instead of 3/4 pound. I think deep dish may be the way to go, since you end up with a lot of filling.

Sausage, Apple, and Cheese Pie
From: Simply Recipes

Ingredients

1 basic pie dough recipe, such as this one, or one of your choosing
2 large green apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups shredded fontina, provalone, and or asiago cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using a fork, poke holes all over your pie crust, creating vents. Pre-bake the crust for about 12-15 minutes, or until dough is just beginning to brown. Reduce heat to 350 degrees.

2. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the apples, onions, and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples and onions are tender (about 5 minutes).  Add the garlic and cook briefly, until fragrant. Transfer mixture to a bowl.

3. In the same skillet, add the sausage. Cook, stirring only occasionally, until sausage is browned and cooked through. Remove sausages with a slotted spoon to separate from remaining fat, and pat with paper towels to remove excess juices.

4. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the cheeses and eggs.

5. In the pre-baked pie crust, add sausages, topped with the apple/onion mixture. Pour the cheese mixture on top, spreading it evenly over the pie. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes and let cool for a few minutes before serving.


Assembling: