Apple Crostata

I've had lots of apples on my kitchen table that were not quite eating out of hand quality but I didn't want to compost them. I'm hesitant about making pies usually. The crust scares me. I've had plenty of pie failures. But this apple crostata sounded so easy and it received rave reviews on Food Network so I thought why not give it a try.
I cannot say enough good things about this sort of pie. So so so so easy. I cannot even believe how quickly it all came together. It baked in about 35 minutes and was cool enough to eat in another 30 minutes. Really! The crust was out of this world! Slightly sweet & flakey with a nice crunch. Oh my word this was so wonderful! It's not super sweet so if you like your apple pie on the sweeter side, maybe add another 1/8 cup of sugar or maybe even brown sugar. This would be great for a dinner party. It's looks impressive & rustic if you place it on a nice serving platter. But I want to mention again how incredibly easy this was. You really can't mess it up. Mine did stay in the oven longer than the recipe states and that's mainly because my apples were not soft enough yet. I think mine might have been in as long as 35-40 minutes. It's very fragile when it first comes out of the oven but when it cools it becomes a bit sturdier. I bet this would also be fantastic with a caramel sauce drizzled on each serving.
It's not a very big dessert. I would say you get about 6 slices that are not very big. When I was putting it together, it seemed like an awful lot of apples for the little patch of dough that I rolled out but the apples cooked down quite a bit so they weren't so mounded afterward. I think I diced my apples smaller than the recipe called for and they still took longer to bake than the recipe stated. So I suggest cutting them smaller. The spice in this is not really strong. I liked it but if you want it spicier, then add another shake of cinnamon or allspice.

Please try this! You won't be disappointed.

I thought for sure this was going to fall apart in the oven. I used no water to seal the edges or seams. Somehow it stayed together and did not leak! Amazing!

I baked it on parchment. The parchment turned a super dark brown on the edges of the pan. It slid off the cookie sheet easily onto a cooling rack. I was worried that the bottom of my crostata would be too brown but it wasn't. I had the piece of parchment on top of 2 cookie sheets to prevent overbrowning.

The crust almost tastes like a crunchy sugar cookie. So delish!

Apple Crostata

foodnetwork.com
Ina Garten

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated or superfine sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) very cold unsalted butter, diced
• 2 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

• 1 1/2 pounds McIntosh, Macoun, or Empire apples (3 large)
• 1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup granulated or superfine sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

For the pastry, place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough becomes a solid mass. Turn the dough onto a well-floured board and form into a disk. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Flour a rolling pin and roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to a baking sheet.

For the filling, peel, core, and cut the apples into 8ths. Cut each wedge into 3 chunks. Toss the chunks with the orange zest. Cover the tart dough with the apple chunks leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub it with your fingers until it starts holding together. Sprinkle evenly on the apples. Gently fold the border over the apples to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle.

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.