Recipes

Goat Cheese Apple Pie

Madeline Scherb

Adapted from A Taste of Heaven (Tarcher, 2009)

"Sister Myriam, who manages a website for Trappist abbeys in France at www.monastic-euro.org, shared this delicious recipe. It uses fresh goat cheese made by the monks of Saint Jean-Baptiste Priory. You can substitute another goat cheese if the priory's cheese proves hard to find." –Madeline Scher

Ingredients

4 golden apples
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
8 leaves (9 x 14-inch sheets) thawed phyllo dough
1/3 cup golden raisins
4 ounces Saint Jean-Baptiste Priory fresh goat cheese or other fresh goat cheese, ash or rind removed, cut into small cubes
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon hazelnut oil (optional)

Method

Peel the apples, core, and cut each into 8 wedges. Melt 3 1/2 tablespoons of the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples, sprinkle with the vanilla sugar, and cook, tossing occasionally, until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a colander set over a bowl to drain.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Melt the remaining butter and lightly grease a disposable or metal 9-inch round aluminum pie pan. Arrange 1 sheet of phyllo dough in the center of the pie pan, brush lightly with some butter, then lay another sheet on top crosswise. (Keep the remaining phyllo leaves moist by covering them with a sheet of plastic wrap and then a damp cloth.) Repeat the layering and buttering of phyllo with 2 more sheets of phyllo, rotating the phyllo so the entire pan is covered.

Scatter the raisins, then the well-drained apples, and then the cubes of cheese over the phyllo. Pull the edges of the dough up over the apple mixture, tamp down well, and cover the pie with 4 more sheets of phyllo dough, assembling as before, lightly brushing each layer with butter and layering crosswise and rotated so entire pan is covered. (You may not need all of the butter.) Lightly cover the pie with another pie pan and gently invert so the ends of the phyllo can be pulled over and smoothed on the top of the pie to make a compact disk. Again, cover the pie with another pie pan and invert again to the smoother side of the pie. Brush some more butter over the top of the pie and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until phyllo is golden, about 30 minutes. Transfer pie to a wire rack for 30 to 60 minutes to cool. Sprinkle the warm pie with hazelnut oil, if using, and then serve immediately.