I love a good cheese board. Lately Fall themed ones are popping up at parties with their selection of sharp cheddar cheeses, walnuts and crisp apples. They inspired me. Why make another sweet apple pie when you can make it savory?! I’ve taken these flavors, added a little balsamic vinegar, some pepper and stuffed it in between two thin crusts to make them portable. Give this a try. I think you’ll like it. I experimented with both pie crust and thin pizza dough crust. Both are delicious in their own right. The key to either is ensuring the correct filling to dough ratio. Another key is crimping the edges so that none of the delicious filling spills out.
Ingredients
- 1/2 apple
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons Olive This! Red Apple Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Olive This! Roasted Walnut Oil
- 2 tablespoons prosciutto
- 1 teaspoon green onions, green part only
- 1 pie crust, prepared (optionally thin crust pizza dough)
- Pepper, approximately 1 teaspoon
Directions
Preheat the oven as directed by your dough package instructions.
Cook the prosciutto and place into a bowl. Reserve the grease. Dice the apple into small pieces. Shred the cheddar cheese. Cut the green parts of the green onion. Add all of these ingredients in a small bowl with the balsamic vinegar and walnut oil. Add a few cracks of fresh ground pepper, approximately 1 teaspoon. Set it aside to macerate as you prepare the dough.
No matter if you are using pizza crust or pie crust, split it in half and roll it out to approximately half the original thickness. Using a 3 inch biscuit cutter or similar device cut circles into the dough. Place about 1-2 tablespoons of mixture in the center of each circle. Place another circle on top and secure the edges and place on a cooking sheet.
Using the reserved grease or melted butter, brush the top of each pie. Sprinkle a little black pepper on top. Bake per the directions on the dough package. I found that the pie dough cooked about 5 minutes less than the instructions and the pizza dough almost the same.
Let them cool and serve! Makes 10 savory hand pies.
Enjoy!
Have a comment? We’d love to hear from you. Have you tried this dish? Do you have a variation that you think others will enjoy? Leave us a comment below (providing your email address is not necessary).