Pasta with Broccoli and Spicy Apples

I know there are some people (Mom? Dad?) who would never, ever make this, because it includes fruit in a main course pasta dish. HOWEVER: it's extremely good. Good enough that I wanted to eat it right away rather than taking a picture. The original plan called for everything but the apples, but it just was looking like it was going to be too high a pasta-to-vegetable ratio... and we had apples... Seriously, apples sauteed with garlic and red pepper flakes might be my new favorite thing.

Pasta with Broccoli and Spicy Apples

3/4 pound small tubular pasta
1 large head broccoli, cut into small pieces
1 red & green apple (i.e., Pink Lady, Gala, Fuji, or Braeburn), diced
2 large cloves garlic, diced
4 tbsp olive oil
a few stale saltine crackers, crushed
red pepper flakes, to taste
Swiss cheese, grated, for sprinkling

Start the water boiling for the pasta, and in another pot, start water boiling for the broccoli. Chop up the broccoli, garlic, and apple, if you haven't already. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a small saucepan over low-medium heat. (When the water boils, add the pasta and broccoli.) Add the garlic and fry just until the garlic begins to color; immediately add the apples and red pepper flakes (about three dashes) and stir well. Continue to cook over low-medium heat, stirring frequently; you may need to add another tablespoon of oil. Check the pasta and broccoli. This is not the time to undercook your broccoli; you want it to be soft so it begins to fall apart as you stir it into the pasta. Drain the broccoli when it's done. At that point, add the crushed saltines to the apple/garlic mixture and stir thoroughly. Continue to cook another two or three minutes. Meanwhile, drain the pasta. Combine the pasta and broccoli; add a tablespoon of olive oil and stir thoroughly. Then add the apple mixture, stir thoroughly, and serve immediately. Top with grated Swiss cheese just before eating.

Serves 3-4.

Fig and Apple Crumble

A couple of weeks ago, we bought some beautiful purple figs. I had in mind to make a semi-savory tart with them, but then, lo and behold, we ate a fig-and-arugula pizza at dinner with a friend, so I didn't feel the need to make the very same thing the next day. Instead, a crumble! I've come to love this topping, which is crunchy and tender and buttery but not over-the-top; it's way better than any crisp.

What I did not account for, after a summer of baking with stone fruits, is that apples take a lot longer to soften up. I baked the whole thing for about 40 minutes, but you really need to bake the fruit first for 30-40 minutes, and then the whole thing for another 40, in order to get a truly melting combination of figs and apples. They should be more combined-looking and softer than in the photo below:

Fig and Apple Crumble

For the filling:
2 medium sized red apples, such as Gala, cored and diced (do not peel)
1 pint purple figs, quartered
1-2 tsp rosewater, to taste (3 tsp is too much!)
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp ginger

For the topping:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine diced apples, quartered figs, rosewater, ginger, and cornstarch in a baking dish. (Size of dish is flexible: mine is about a six-inch round dish, which yields a deep-dish crumble with lots of topping; equally good in a larger dish.) Stir to mix well. Cook, covered, in the oven about 30 minutes, until the apples are beginning to soften.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, sugar, and lemon zest. Add butter and mix until clumps form.

Take the fruit mixture out of the oven and, carefully, top with topping -- just use your fingers to drop clumps of batter on top of the fruit until it is completely covered (if your dish is small) or covered to your liking (if the dish is big). Return to oven and cook, uncovered, about 35-40 more minutes, until the topping is golden and crisp.

Serves 4-6.

Cranberry Applesauce

There are two seasons: fresh-fruit season, and non-fresh-fruit season. If, like me, you're getting awfully tired of non-fresh-fruit season already, and wondering how you can tolerate another berry-less breakfast, may I suggest a little dish of Cranberry Applesauce along with your Kashi GoLean? It is tart and bright-tasting, and also extremely beautiful: bright, dark red and chunky. Last year, I discovered the cranberry/rosemary combination at a friend's house, and I just can't get enough -- laugh, if you want, but do try it.

I can't get light good enough to take a photo, but will try in the next couple days before it's gone. (However, it's halfway gone and I only made it yesterday...)

Cranberry Applesauce

4 medium apples, skin-on, diced
1 12-oz bag frozen cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp honey
1 large pinch rosemary
3/4 tsp ginger
1/2 cup red wine
about 3 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil (which may take a while, as the cranberries are frozen), stirring occasionally. Turn the heat down low and simmer, covered, making sure to stir occasionally, until the ingredients have turned to a chunky mush, about 30 minutes. Taste; if too tart for you, add more sugar. If after 30 minutes it is too thin, uncover the pot and continue to simmer and stir for another ten to fifteen minutes. It should be well combined and solidly bright red, but still somewhat chunky.

Suggestions: eat for breakfast; serve in wine glasses for dessert.

Caramel Apple Tart

I woke up with a craving for apples and a spicy caramel sauce on flaky pastry--so that's what I made this morning!

Use any pate brisée you normally use. I experimented with a new one that called for an egg instead of ice water, and a little whole wheat flour; it turned out to be on the crumbly side of flaky, which was not quite what i was going for.

The amounts called for are for a six-inch springform tart pan, though there will be enough pastry crust for a nine-inch pan. For a nine-inch pan, I would guess 5 apples, and caramel made out of 5 tbsp sugar.

Caramel Apple Tart

1 recipe pate brisée or other all-butter pie crust (make sure to refrigerate for at least half an hour and then let sit for ten minutes before rolling out)

3 to 4 apples (Honeycrisp worked well; another red cooking apple would be fine)
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
Three good shakes cinnamon
1 pinch ground allspice
1 pinch ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Cut the apples in quarters. Cut out the core, but don't peel the apples: the red peel is pretty. Slice the apples thinly as you can. Keep the sliced quarters together--it will be easier to arrange them in the crust. Depending on the size of your apples, it should take between 3 and 4 apples to fill the crust.

Roll out the crust, and put it into the springform pan, patching any holes that appear (they won't show). Make sure the dough extends up past the edges of the pan, then use a knife to level the edges. Arrange a tightly-packed circle of apples around the edge of the crust, then fill in the center.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small saucepan, melt the 3 tbsp brown sugar, ginger, and spices with 1 tbsp water over medium-low heat. Do not stir, but swish the pan around from time to time to make sure it is heated evenly. Just when bubbles form throughout, take the pan off the heat and stir in the butter and salt. Pour over the tart. It should look like this:


Bake until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender, 40-60 minutes. Let cool at least a bit before serving.

Serves 4-6.

Pink Fruit Salad

I WILL fix my camera eventually...

Pink Fruit Salad

5 Granny Smith apples, cut into small cubes but not peeled
1-2 blood oranges, thinly sliced and cut into small pieces
10-15 prunes, halved
1 tbsp pear brandy or white wine
Juice of 1 lemon
1 pinch ground cardamom
1 tsp sugar (omit if you're using a less-tart kind of apple)

Combine ingredients in a large bowl. The blood oranges will turn everything a lovely pink. Chill and serve.

Serves many.

Tart Apple Cobbler

Tart enough to prompt one guest at dinner to ask whether there was rhubarb as well as apples in this cobbler!

Tart Apple Cobbler

1 recipe cobbler batter (see here)

5 cooking apples, skin-on, diced roughly (2 Granny Smith and 3 Braeburn is a good combination)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
2 tbsp all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 375. In a mixing bowl, mix together apples, sugar, spices, and flour until apples are well coated. Pour into an 11x7 baking dish and bake 20 minutes.

While baking, make cobbler batter (using the zest of 1 entire lemon rather than half). After 20 minutes, take the apples out of the oven (leaving the oven on) and, being careful not to burn yourself, dot the top of the apples with the cobbler dough in a grid of marble-sized dots, leaving space between them. Return to oven and bake about 40 minutes, until the dough is golden and crisp.

Serves 8 or more.