Rustic Apple Tart

The first dish my daughter ever wanted to make was apple pie. I felt like a failure when our crust ripped apart as I tried to press it into the pan. We ended up with something closer to an apple crumble. (Still delicious, but a bit of a disappointment.) I wish I had had this recipe three years ago. -- Lygeia Grace, Senior Food Editor, Real Simple

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This cozy apple dessert truly is easy as pie, thanks to the use of pre-made refrigerated crust. Just pile apple slices onto its center and fold over the edges. A quick brush of egg before baking produces a gorgeous, golden crackled finish, the ultimate home-spun touch. (It can be your secret that this dish is anything but.)

Ingredients:
1/2 15-ounce package refrigerated piecrust (1 crust, not the pie-plate version)
1/2 pound granny smith apples
1/2 pound Cortland, empire, or macntosh apples
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus 1/2 teaspoon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

Step 1 Prepare

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray.

Comments

[spydyr]

I've made this numerous times. I must say this is a great reciepe. Sometimes I swap out for other types of apples. Cameos and Macintoshes make a very sweet and sour tart. Pink ladies and Gala make it very sweet. Cameo and Granny Smith make it rather tart with a firmer texture.

[Rishnai]

No need to feel like a failure. The first time I tried to make apple pie it was in the upturned lid of a stewpot, and I didn't make enough crust. I was ignoring a recipe for a 9-inch pie, but it was a 10-inch pot. The crust fell apart in the process. I put all the fixin's in anyway, (which at this point only vaguely resembled the original recipe in that there was apples, butter and sugar involved, although I used dark brown sugar) wrapped it all in large amounts of aluminum foil, and proceeded to stoke something that was in between a bonfire and a small blast furnace. Then I set the "pie" on a grill over this fire and waited. After a little over an hour, I opened the grill, removed the foil, and proceeded to hot-smoke the pie for another twenty minutes. Moral of the story: Delicous things happpen from accidents.

[mensmaximus]

I'm preparing a submission to my city council on how to spend our money for the next four years but I'll leave a brief description here for typing practice. Slice the top and bottom off of an apple and punch the core out leaving basically a donut shape. Make six holes in the two inch thick donut slab with a lipstick lid/cylinder. Insert six round papaya 'bullets' into the holes. Fill the large centre hole with a small papaya plug on the bottom, add brown sugar, raisin, walnut mixture. Pack it. Lay over a slice of white cheddar on top. Broil for five minutes or until cheese is dripping over side of apple and brown sugar is 'erupting'. Slice into six mini-servings. Repeat till addiction is abated. i have a variation on Mensmaximus/YouTube.

[mensmaximus]

I designed the ultimate American pie here in Canada. I better put my description where my mouth is but then again, my design is too good to share. Prod me for details but I am so ticked off about empty shelves at the Food Banks everywhere that again, I don't want to share a good food idea based on taste.

[canida]

OK, I'll bite. Put up your recipe- pie is awesome!

[phenoptix]

You could make this bad boy rather fancy by doing the same thing in a frying pan (oven proof), with the pastry over the top. Bang - Tart Tartin.