Cheez-it

I think that I have had two pieces of soul-stirring apple pie in my life. One was a perfect crumble top made by my friend Peter's mom who is a serious Becky HomeEcky, and the other was a slice I ordered at a New Jersey diner and came with a piece of sharp cheddar cheese melted on top.

While this was hardly a new idea, I latched on to it and found a recipe for a version that incorporates the cheese right into the pastry. I think this is best when combined with fairly sour apples like Granny Smiths, but it would also be great as a pot pie crust. You could also use the scraps for various other fatty appetizer things. They would make awesome pigs-in-a-blanket.

Cheddar Cheese Pie Crust - yields two 9 inch crusts

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature for blending
1 1/2 cups Crisco
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup ice water

Sift flour and set aside. Then cream Cheddar cheese and butter together with a hand or standing mixer until smooth. Stir the Crisco into the cheese mixture until it's just barely combined. Start to slowly cut the sifted flour into cheese mixture by hand until mixture is crumbly.

Next, dissolve salt and sugar into ice water. Add the water slowly to the cheese mixture and use your hands to combine all together until firm ball is formed. Do not over-mix. Divide dough into 2 balls, seal in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.

When chilled, roll each ball out to about 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface, to a size 2 inches larger than the pan into which it will be fitted.

This crust does tend to be more finicky because of the texture and the combination of shortening and butter. It's important not to overwork this one or it will not come out flaky. I like to bake the bottom shell first at about 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes so that the cheese in the bottom crust browns evenly with the cheese on the top crust.