Adapted from Food Network
Years ago, this was my first attempt at creating a pie, and it turned out great! My husband has tried several other apple pie recipes, but this one is his absolute favorite. Ina Garten's Recipe from Food Network is the basis for this dish, and I owe her a debt of gratitude for sparking my interest in baking pies.
The end result is still really tasty even though I "tweaked" some of the processes and components. In order to have a more nuanced apple flavor, I like to use a combination of two different apple varieties while baking pies or tarts. As an added precaution against the pie becoming too soggy during baking, I like to macerate or marinate the apples in sugar and orange juice before placing them on top of the pastry. This makes the apples taste sweeter and less tart when baked. The crust looks and tastes better when you brush it with heavy cream and sprinkle it with brown sugar.
Both my spouse and my son go crazy for this dish. It was probably completed in one day. The only negative aspect of this dish is that you'll have to whip up another batch to fulfill everyone's hunger.
Serves 6
Ingredients:
For the Pastry Dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
8 tbsp (1 stick) very cold unsalted butter, diced
2-4 tbsp of ice water
Heavy cream (for brushing the crust) and brown sugar (for sprinkling)
For the filling:
1/4 cup granulated sugar (for macerating)
1 tbsp orange juice (for macerating)
3 large apples (I used 1 Granny Smith and 2 Mcintosh)
1/4 tsp orange zest, grated
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground all spice
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced
Let's start!
Peel, core, and cut the apples into 8 wedges. Cut each wedge into 4 chunks. Macerate apples with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tbsp orange juice. Let is stand for at least 1 hour.
In a large bowl, place flour, sugar and salt. Mix until combined.
Add cold butter, and by using a pastry blender, cut into the butter until they are pea-sized.
Add 2-3 tbsp of cold water to the blended ingredients. Toss the mixture with both hands like tossing a salad. I would like to use my hands to be able to feel if the dough is ready. Try to grab some of the mixture into your hand and lightly squeeze it, when the dough is still crumbly and falls apart when hand is released, it means that the dough needs more hydration, so add 1 to 2 tbsp at a time, continue tossing with your hand until you see that the dough is not crumbly and holds together when hand is opened after lightly squeezing the dough. Just make sure that dough is not too wet.
Transfer the dough onto a well-floured board and form into a disk. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450F
Flour a rolling pin and roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Remove excess fluid from macerated apples, toss in orange zest. Cover the center of the dough with the apple chunks leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in a medium bowl. Add the cold butter and cut into the butter using a pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly. Rub it with your fingers until it starts holding together when grabbed by the hand.
Break dough into small pieces while sprinkling evenly on the apples.
Gently fold the border of the dough over the apples to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle.
Brush border with heavy cream, and sprinkle with brown sugar.
Bake the crostata for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the apples are tender. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!
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