Apple Pie for winter!

*1kg cooking apples (if using eaters, use less sugar when you cook them)
*Couple tablespoons sugar
*Cinnamon/nutmeg if you have a less picky boy than me
*Decent sized knob of butter
*1 beaten egg

I've used disposable foil pie dishes so that I can freeze them, 1kg apples filled two dishes.

I also used ready made sweet shortcrust pastry partly because I am appauling at making pastry and partly because I didn't have the time or patience to tackle that particular bug bear.

-Peel and core all the apples and cut into wedges (about 8 to an apple, depending on size).
-Chuck all the appples, butter and sugar into a big pan and cook them until the sugar has dissolved and the apples have softened, but not turned to mush. About 15 minutes.
-Put apples to one side to cool slightly (apples can be bagged and frozen at this point to use for pies etc later on) and roll pastry.
-Line pie dish/es with a thin layer (about 5mm) of pastry, trim off the excess.
-Fill dish with the cooked apples, they need to be fairly full, with a sort of mound on top.
-Brush beaten egg around edge of dish and pastry and top with more rolled pastry.
-Brush lid with egg and sprinkle with sugar and stab a couple of holes in the lid to let out the steam.
-Put in the oven at about 180c until pastry is crisp and sugar has browned.

I've frozen my pies after I've cooked them so they can be reheated at a later date. If you use the foil trays, remember DON'T microwave them!