Sunday, March 24, 2013

Pie Sunday: Passover Charoset Pie

My coworker and friend, Erin, is one of my biggest supporters on this blog. She recently asked me come up with a Passover pie. She said one of the biggest complaints of the Passover meal is the monotony. I needed to come up with a way to make a new pie without completely throwing out tradition. 


Erin described the various foods eaten during passover. The best one to manipulate seemed to be  charoset. It is a mixture of apples, walnuts, Manischewitz and cinnamon The sweetness was already appealing to make a pie. Erin suggested I use matzo meal for the crust. The end result is a charoset pie you will be happy add to your holiday tradition.


You need:

1 1/2 c matzo meal
1 T white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
7 T butter, melted
2-3 T cold milk

6 c apples, peeled, cored, chopped into small chunks
1/2 c Manischewitz wine
1 1/2 c walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c honey
3 T potato starch
1 tsp cinnamon
1 T butter, cut into bits

Combine matzo meal, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add butter and milk until the mixture is crumbly, but forms together when pressed. Press about 1 c of the mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9" pie pan. Leave the rest to sprinkle over the top.

Soak the apples in Manischewitz, tossing occasionally to coat for about 30 minutes in a large, heavy bottom stock pot. Add the walnuts, brown sugar, honey, potato starch, and cinnamon to the apples and stir together over medium heat. Continue stirring occasionally until the mixture begins to thicken.

Pour the apple mixture into the prepared crust and dot with butter. Crumble the remaining matzo crust over the top. Bake at 375ºF for 35-40 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden. Cool on a rack before serving.