I created this segment on March 14, 2016 (which is 3.14.16).  Pi is 3.14159, or also 3.1416.  So, in honor of Pi, I decided to make a fun pie.  This bacon covered pie is a tasty combination of sweet and savory.  But, if you like the taste of pork and apples, I think you’ll like this dish.

Bacon Lattice Apple Pie

Pie Crust

Ingredients

1 1/4 cu All Purpose Flour
6 tbl Butter, diced and cold
3 oz Cream Cheese, torn into small pieces

Method

Combine flour, butter and cream cheese in a food processor and blend until dough comes together. Roll into a ball and flatten to about a 5” disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour. Alternatively, you can use a pasty cutter to blender everything and then mix by hand until a smooth dough forms.

Pie

Ingredients

1 Pie Crust
3 lbs Granny Smith Apples, about 5 large
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 cu Granulated Sugar
1/4 cu Brown Sugar
2 tbl All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
12 slices Apple Smoked Bacon

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel, core, and thinly sliced apples. Mix with lemon juice. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour over apples and mix with your hands. Carefully arrange the first few layers as tightly as possible, breaking some of the pieces to fill in the edges near the crust. Then gradually add all of the apples, mounding them in the center. Pour any remaining juice and sugar from the bowl on top.

Place one strip of bacon across the top. Place a second perpendicular to the first. Then start arranging additional strips alongside the first, weaving them over and under each other. Once you’ve completed the lattice pattern, trim the excess bacon but leave about a 1/2” – 1” overhang. Tuck that extra into the pie next to the apples.

Loosely tent pie with heavy duty aluminum foil, being sure the foil doesn’t touch the bacon and place it on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 60 minutes. Remove aluminum and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until bacon is slightly crispy. Let the pie rest for at least 2 hours before slicing. This is actually tasty accompanied by pieces of cheddar cheese at room temperature.