Maida Heatter'S Free-Form Apple Pie - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Pastry
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut up
3 -4 tablespoons ice water
Filling
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 1 tablespoon cognac or 1 tablespoon water
3 - 3 1/2 lbs granny smith apples (peeled, cored, and cut into 8ths)
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
Glaze
1/2 cup apricot preserves

Preparation

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add water and toss with a fork until pastry holds together.
Shape pastry into a ball and flatten into a disk.
Wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
Melt butter in a 12\" skillet over medium heat.
Increase heat to high and add sugar and brandy.
Stir in apples and cover and cook 3 minutes, stirring apples twice.
Uncover and add raisins and cook apples, stirring until tender and liquid evaporates, about 6 minutes more.
Cool apples completely.
Stir in nuts.
Heat oven to 425.
Meanwhile, on a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry into a 14 inch circle.
Transfer pastry to a large cookie sheet.
Arrange apples on pastry, leaving a 2 to 2 1/2 inch border around the edge.
Fold edge of pastry over apples.
The pie shell should be about 9 inches in diameter.
Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 400 and bake 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.
Melt preserves through a sieve into a cup.
Drizzle over filling.
Cool on cookie sheet.
Transfer to serving platter when cool.