Not suitable for vegetarians

It's that time of year. Time to use up fresh apples and put sausage and pie crust to a tasty use.

Sausage Apple Pie

Final Baking time: 50 minutes
Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

I always choose apples with a sweet-tart balance such as McIntoshes, Braeburns, or Granny Smiths. Eastern varietals such as Nitanny or Cortland would be good choices. Choose bold flavored sausages such as bratwurst or bierwurst.

Ingredients

• 1 pkg 9" deep-dish frozen piecrusts (2 crusts) defrosted, or enough home made dough for a double crust pie, rolled into 2 rounds for a 9" pie
• 3 pre-cooked sausage links
• 2-3 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp pie spice
• 3 cups water
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice or cider vinegar
• 3-4 medium large apples
• 3 Tbsp cold butter, diced

Follow package directions for parbaking pie shells OR-
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bottom crust in pie pan. Using a fork, evenly prick crust. Bake for 20 minutes. Reserve upper crust unbaked. After parbaking, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Cut sausage links into 1/2" coins and set aside. Combine flour and spices in a small bowl. Combine water and lemon juice or vinegar in a large mixing bowl. Leaving skins intact, cut apples into 1.5" dice. Place cut pieces into the acidulated water as they accumulate. When all apples have been cubed, drain the pieces, then return them to the mixing bowl. Combine the sausage coins with the diced apples and sprinkle them with the flour and spice mixture. Toss the pie filling to distribute the spices, then turn it into the parbaked pie shell. Top with the reserved pie crust, seal the edges and make several steam vent slashes.

Bake for 50 minutes. You may need to cover the pie with a sheet of aluminum foil during the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. Don't forget to put a baking sheet below the pie in case of a juicy breach.