"an apple pie without some cheese is like a hug without a squeeze!"

Ingredients

Pie filling:

• 1 1/4 lbs assorted sweet and tart, hard, preferably local, apples
• finely grated zest of one lemon, preferably Meyer
• 2 ounces butter
• 2 ounces sugar
• 4 fl ounces apple cider (apple juice for Brits!)

Lancashire Pastry:

• 6 ounces white, unbleached flour
• 3 ounces butter
• 3 ounces freshly grated hard cheese of your choice..
• pinch of salt if you use unsalted butter
• 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon of cold water
• 1 tablespoon of sugar

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Apple and almond pie - tarte normande

Preparation

• Sift flour, salt, sugar together and then blend in the butter until the mix resembles ground almonds.
• Stir in the grated cheese. Then stir in the egg/water and gently bind together with your hands' basically just very gently squush it together until it forms a ball. Wrap, the ball of dough and put it in the fridgerdator for at least half an hour.
• Assemble the filling:
  Grease heartily a 8-81/2" glass pie dish with lovely butter. Peel, core and slice the apples. Melt butter, sugar and apple cider in a pan together and heat til bubbling...reduce by about 2/3 thirds 'til it is nice and syrupy. Cool syrup somewhat then pour into the base of the pie dish. Pile in the apples somewhat evenly and press down...they shouldn't be too high.
• Roll out the cooled pastry to a circle just bigger then your pie dish and lay over the apples. Press down on the apples and even up the edge, poke holes in the top to let out the steam and keep the pastry crisp.
• Bake on a lipped tray...in case the juices flow over....in a 400F oven for about 40 minutes until the pastry is evenly browned and glorious.