Ingredients
for the Crust
5 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, diced
12-15 tablespoons (or more) ice water
4 teaspoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons sugar
for the Filling
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose corn starch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 pounds Pink Lady apples, peeled, cored, and diced to 1/2 inch cubes
Optional
1/4 cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Directions
Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 6 tablespoons ice water and process until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather into two balls and flatten each into a disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 2 hours.
Mix together cinnamon and sugar. Remove one dough disk from the refrigerator and toll into a rectangle approximately 1/3 inch thick. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon mixture over the rolled-out dough and roll tightly into a log. Roll in foil and return to the refrigerator. Repeat with other dough disk. Let rest 45 minutes to an hour.
Position rack in lowest third of oven and preheat to 400F. Prepare a 9 inch pie plate with cooking spray. Mix together sugar, corn starch, lemon juice, grated lemon peel, nutmeg and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add apples and toss to blend.
Flour our counter with a generous amount of flour. Using the first dough log, slice rounds of dough approximately 1/2 inch thick and arrange in a circular pattern touching each other. Dust with a fine layer of flour and gently roll your dough just enough to connect the rounds. Be careful that it doesn’t stick to the counter or the rolling pin. Do not worry if the circles are no longer perfectly round — it will still be a pretty pattern in the pie plate. This is what is should look like in the pie plate:
Transfer the rolled out dough to your pie plate, Fold edge under, forming high-standing rim; crimp. Add filling. Repeat rolling method with other pie disk from refrigerator and then gently drape over apple filling. If the rolling isn’t working well, you can, instead, simply smoosh down each round into a flatter round and then shingle each piece onto the pie to make the top crust. Fasten and crimp to the bottom crust, and then cut a few vent holes in the top crust. Bake pie 10 minutes at 400F. Reduce oven temperature to 375F. Continue baking until juices bubble thickly and crust is deep golden, about 1 hour.
Mix together apricot jam and lemon juice in a small bowl. Microwave for 20 to 30 seconds to loosen. While pie is still warm, right after removing it from the oven. This will give the pie a nice sheen. Let pie cool 1 hour before cutting.
