Winter Fruit Pie with Walnut Crumble

Over the last few years I've developed a sincere fondness for pie. I never disliked it before, but it wasn't something I'd choose for dessert. What changed? The crust. I learned how to make a rich buttery pie crust. A pastry shell that you could fill with practically anything and it would taste divine. Pie pastry gets a bad rep. There's a misconception that it's difficult to make. To me, pies are one of the easiest things to bake! (Especially if you have a food processor to do all the work for you.) It only takes a little flour, a dash of salt and sugar, ice water, and a lot of very cold butter. Butter can do amazing things to ordinary ingredients. The one essential pie-making advice I can offer is that temperature is key. Cold specks of butter exploding in the hot oven is what magically creates that crispy flakey crust. For a basic, go-to pie crust, visit this recipe. (It's adaptable for one or two layers and can be used with any variety of fillings.)

This deep-dish pie was my contribution to our Thanksgiving dinner. I thought it perfectly fit the season, stuffed full of fresh apples, cranberries, and pears. The original version called for dried figs. Since I was feeding my family and feeling less adventurous, I left them out. The filling was fabulous and adequately sweet. And the walnut crumb topping made it unique. A hit even with my younger twin sisters (who haven't outgrown their pie aversion yet).

Winter Fruit Pie with Walnut Crumble

INGREDIENTS

Crust:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, diced
3 Tbsp. ice water
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Walnut Crumb Topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup raw walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
4 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/2-inch thick
4 Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup dried figs (optional, I omitted)
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch

DIRECTIONS
1. To make the pastry crust, put the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl, stir to combine. Add the butter to the flour mixture and toss to evenly coat. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender, a food processor, an electric mixer, or your hands, just until the mixture becomes coarse and crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Stir the water and lemon juice together, then pour over the dry ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Dump the dough onto a well-floured work surface and press it into a 6-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

2. Roll the chilled dough into a 14-inch disk, then line a 9 or 10 by 3-inch springform pan (or 9 or 10 inch deep pie dish) with the rolled-out dough. Patch any holes and trim off any dough that hangs over the edges of the pan. Chill for an additional 30 minutes while you prepare the crumb topping and the fruit filling.

3. To make the walnut crumb topping, mix the flour, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl. Stir in the butter, then work it in with your hands until the texture of crumbs. Put the topping in the refrigerator while you make the fruit filling.

4. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 F.

5. To make the fruit filling, remove the stem from each fig (if using), then boil the figs in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle.

6. Slice each fig into 4 to 5 pieces, put them in a large bowl, and add the apples, pears, and cranberries. Separately, rub the sugar and cornstarch together, then add to the fruit and gently toss until evenly coated. Transfer the filling to the pie shell and top with the walnut crumb.

7. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, or until the crumb is golden, the fruit juices are bubbling thickly around the edges, and the fruit is tender when pierced with a wooden skewer. If the crumb is getting too dark, cover it with foil. When done, cool for several hours on a wire rack. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Makes a 9-10-inch round deep dish pie.

(Adapted from Rustic Fruit Desserts via Epicurious)