Despite my previous statement that this is not a food blog, I have yet another recipe for you. I made it yesterday and, although it's very simple, I am excited about it. Sorry I didn't get a picture of it whole, I forgot! But you can get the general idea of the crust technique from the photos, I think (see closer photo at the end of this page).

You can print it off here or you can go to the web site where I found this. It is Jacques Pepin's Rustic Apple Tart.

RUSTIC APPLE TART

INGREDIENTS

1. 1-1/2 cups PLUS 1 TBSP all-purpose flour

2. Pinch of salt

3. 1-1/2 sticks (6 oz.) cold unsalted butter (cut into 1/2-inch pieces, + 2 TBS melted butter

4. 1/3 cup ice water

5. 3-1/2 TBSP sugar

6. 4 large golden delicious (or Granny Smith, which I used) apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

7. 2 TBSP melted and strained apricot preserves (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a food processor, pulse 1-1/2 cups of flour with the salt. Add cold butter and process just until butter is the size of peas, about 5 seconds. Sprinkle the ice water over mixture and process just until moistened, about 5 seconds. Transfer dough to lightly-floured surface and knead 2 or 3 times until it comes together. Pat the dough into a disk. On a lightly-floured surface, roll out dough into a 16-17-inch round about 1/4-inch thick.

2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough around the rolling pin and unroll it onto the prepared baking sheet.

3. In a small bowl, combine 2 TBSP of the sugar with the remaining 2 TBSP of flour and sprinkle this over the dough. Arrange the apple slices on top in overlapping concentric circles to within 3 inches of the edge. Fold the dough over the apples in a free-form fashion. Brush the apples with the melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining 1-1/2 TBSP of sugar. Refrigerate the unbaked tart until slightly chilled, about 10 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Bake the tart in the center of the oven for 1 hour or until the apples are tender and golden and the crust is deep golden and cooked through. Brush the apples with the melted preserves. Slide the parchment onto a wire rack and let the tart cool slightly before serving.

MAKE AHEAD: The baked tart can be stored overnight at room temperature. Reheat in a 325 F oven before serving.

~ ~ ~ ~

Alas, I once again flubbed mine up a bit. I didn't have any apricot preserves here so I just poured the melted butter over the apples and sprinkled a tiny bit of raw sugar (Sugar-In-The-Raw) over the top. I think the preserves would be great, though. Paul had just come home from food shopping before we cut this up to eat it, and he had gotten some peach ice cream so we had that with it, and it was to die for!

My little tart... totally made from scratch.

I had never made pie crust from scratch before in my life.

No, never, before yesterday.

It was flakey and lovely and even Paul commented on how good it was. And so simple! Who knew?

(Well, probably everybody knew and I was the last to know.)



Cheers,

Bex