Health food chef, Lee Holmes, puts a healthy twist on an old favourite- Apple pies!

One of the things we hear a lot about these days is the “microbiome”. This is a term refers to the bacteria that lives in your digestive tract. There is more bacteria there than you have cells in your body and having the right bacteria is important for the health of not only your body but your mind as well. What we know about apples is that eating them encourages the growth of the correct bacteria in your digestive system.

That means a whole heap of positive health effects for your mind and body. No wonder we say an apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Spelt Apple Pies

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:

3 Modi apples, diced
½ tsp cinnamon
½ cup dried figs, chopped
½ cup raisins
2 tbs honey
¼ water
1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
125g butter
2 tbs coconut palm sugar
1 egg
cold water

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C
2. Add the diced Modi apples, cinnamon, dried figs, raisins, honey and water to a saucepan
3. Cook over a low heat with the lid on for 15 minutes until the apples have softened
4. . Remove from the heat and divide the mixture between the 4 ramekin dishes, then set aside to cool
5. Add the spelt flour, butter and coconut palm sugar to a food processor and blend until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
6. Add the egg and blend until the mixture comes together and forms a dough. (If the mixture is slightly dry than you may need to add a tablespoon of cold water and blend again until the dough comes together)
7. Wrap the pastry dough in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for 30 minutes
8. Remove the pastry dough from the fridge and roll out onto a floured surface
9. Cut 4 round shapes out of the pastry, making sure they are slightly larger than the ramekin dishes
10. Pop each round of pastry onto each ramekin and press down around the edges
11. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown

The spelt flour gives an earthy flavour to these pies that perfectly complements the sweet acidity of the Modi apples!

For more tasty recipes from Modi Apple Australia, follow the Modi Apple Facebook page!