Fresh Cran Apple Crostata Recipes

Steps:

• Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples, 1/2 cup sugar and cranberries; cover and cook until apples release their liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove lid and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until soft apples fall apart and juices thicken to a thin-syrup consistency, about 5 minutes longer. Pour onto a large-lipped cookie sheet or jellyroll pan and cool to room temperature. (Can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 5 days.)
• Adjust oven rack to low position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Open puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a rectangle, about 10 by 16 inches. Transfer to a large cookie sheet. (I suggest lining the sheet with parchment paper; this ensures the crostada doesn't stick and allows easy cleanup.)
• Spread cooked apples over pastry, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold up pastry borders over apples. Unfold corners and form ruffled creases to keep dough from overlapping. Brush pastry border with egg white and sprinkle with the remaining 1 Tb. sugar. Bake until pastry is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with optional ice cream or whipped cream.

Steps:

• 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.

Steps:

• Mix flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt together with an electric mixer until combined. Mix in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water, 2 teaspoons at a time, while the mixer is running until dough just holds together. Test dough by pinching a small amount between your fingers; if it is crumbly, add a 1 teaspoon more ice water at a time.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until slightly firm, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Squeeze 1/2 the lemon over the apple slices to keep from browning.
• Place a large piece of parchment paper on a flat work surface. Roll dough into a round 12 to 16 inches in diameter, 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick. Arrange apple slices in 2 layers on the dough, leaving a 1 1/2 to 2-inch border all around. Fold up the border, pleating the edge to make it fit; leave most of the apples uncovered.
• Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle over apples. Squeeze remaining 1/2 lemon over apples. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons sugar over crust. Transfer parchment paper to a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crust is golden brown, 50 to 60 minutes.