FFwD: Crispy Crackly Apple Almond Tart

Last weekend, which was a long weekend, we spent Saturday taking a drive around the southeast corner of Connecticut, picking apples and visiting wineries. In other words, we had a perfect fall day. We'll tell you more about the wineries later, but as far as the apples go, we picked some big beautiful sweet-tart Winesaps and some deep dark maroon Macouns (considered by some to be the finest eating apple there is). Then we saw that this week's French Fridays with Dorie (in which we haven't been able to participate in some time) was "Crispy Crackly Apple Almond Tart," and we were totally psyched. How fortuitous!

The "French Fridays" Bible

A baking recipe, with a guardian angel for the baking-challenged.

Mise en place is fancy for "uncork the (French!) wine and let's get this recipe started"

Yes, it's fall, ya'll. And what says fall in New England better than apples? We have posted plenty of apple recipes over the years: recipes for doughnuts, pies (not one but two!), risotto, and other savory dishes (here and here), have featured apples and/or apple cider. But this fall, we were looking for something new, and Around My French Table (the book members of French Fridays with Dorie cooks from) had just what we needed.

Whisking together almond flour, sugar, egg, vanilla and heavy cream... 

...makes a heavenly almond cream topping for the tart.

Ooh la la - buttered and sugared sheets of phyllo dough!

After the cream is chilled...

it is carefully spread over the delicate phyllo.

While we can't give you the recipe (club rules!), we can tell you that it wasn't particularly difficult, even for the baking-challenged, and even with working with phyllo dough (which seems scary, doesn't it?). Dorie's direction are clear and straight-forward. We followed them strictly (except for using a different type of apple), and the finished product was incredible - both crispy and crackly, with a delightful balance of tart, juicy apple and sweet, nutty almond. The neighbors loved it, we loved it, and it made us that much more comfortable with baking and with using sheets of phyllo - that ever-versatile yet oh-so-elegant ingredient.  

Chris is a slicing wizard

Laying them perfectly over the almond cream.

It almost looks easy!

Some local apple maple jam makes a nice post-baking glaze.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: buy the book and start making the recipes. From what we can tell, there isn't a bad one in the bunch.

Meatless Monday: Spring Onion and Ricotta Fresca Tart

Our Spring Onion and Ricotta Fresca Tart is being featured this week at Meatless Monday. This delicious tart makes the best out of spring's wonderful bounty - spring onions, ricotta fresca cheese, garlic scapes, sage and farm-fresh eggs. Check it out!

Meatless Monday: Spring Onion and Ricotta Fresca Tart with Scapes and Sage

We grew onions for the first time this year and they were the inspiration for this week's Meatless Monday dish. Well, not just our home-grown onions but also our sage, as well as a few ingredients from Sunday's Farmers' Market, namely, a handful of garlic scapes we got for a dollar, and some just-made ricotta fresca from our friends at Beltane Farm in Lebanon, CT. We call it a tart, but the addition of milk and eggs may cause a debate among our foodie friends and readers who may want us to call it a quiche. Suum cuique, we say. All we know for sure is that it was deliciously satisfying.

Home-grown inspiration:

onions (left)

and sage (right)

Bushel of garlic scapes, Coventry Regional Farmers' Market

We allowed the onions and scapes to caramelize in some fresh-sage-infused olive oil with a bit of sugar, salt and balsamic vinegar. Whisking in egg yolks with the whole eggs and milk gave the tart that rich and creamy yet still springy consistency one desires in a tart/quiche-thing. The crumbled ricotta fresca made from goats' milk resisted melting, was milky and sweet, and gave us something to bite into, which meant we hardly noticed it was a meatless dish. Meanwhile, the store-bought refrigerated pie crust made things a bit easier for a "manic" Monday.

Quickly frying the sage leaves makes for infused oil and pretty garnish

Onions and scapes are sprinkled with sugar then caramelized

Egg yolks, eggs, milk and chopped sage about to be whisked together

Ricotta Fresca from Beltane Farm

The ricotta is crumbled over the caramelized onion mixture inside the (raw) pie crust, awaiting the milk and eggs...

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pie crust, thawed

4 tablespoons olive oil

6 large fresh sage leaves (whole)

2 onions, diced

6 garlic scapes, chopped

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tabelspoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup milk

3 large egg yolks

2 large eggs

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

6 ounces ricotta fresca*

*Note: it so happened that our ricotta was seasoned with chopped chives which enhanced the flavor of the spring onion. If you so desire, chop one or two fresh chives and add them to the mix.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Press the pie crust into a pie plate and set aside. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and fry the sage leaves until they are crispy. Carefully remove the sage leaves and place on a paper towel; set aside. Add the chopped scapes and diced onion to the oil and place over medium-high heat. Sprinkle with sugar and cook the onions until they are translucent. Add the salt and balsamic vinegar and continue to cook until caramelization occurs. Spread the onions into the bottom of the pie crust and crumble half of the ricotta fresca over the onions. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg yolks, eggs, black pepper and sage. Pour this over the onions and cheese inside the pie crust. Crumble the remaining ricotta into the mixture and place in oven. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, or until the center of the tart is firm and springy. Serve each slice garnished with a fried sage leaf.

The finished product