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Sunday, February 21, 2010

Apple, Goat Cheese, and Honey Tart


We picked up some beautiful apples the other day and I have been trying to figure out exactly what I would like to do with them.  I initially thought of a dutch baby with sauteed apples but then remembered a recipe I had bookmarked about a year ago.  The original recipe was a little fussy for just the two of us for dessert.  I wanted something a little less complicated, a little more rustic, and a little sweeter.  I decided to keep the frozen puff pastry sheet in the freezer and used Ina Garten's pastry recipe instead.  Though not a true puff pastry, the dough is a snap to put together and provides a much more supple result.  Unless you're looking for the height and flakiness that only a laminated dough will provide this is a good base for any fruit tart.


You'll Need:

Crust:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 sticks (12 Tb) butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tb. sugar
1/2 cup ice water

Filling:
4 oz. goat cheese
1/3 cup plus 1 Tb honey
1 Tb lemon juice
2 Tb butter
2 medium Granny Smith (or other tart variety) apples

Getting Started:

Cut butter into 1/2" dice.

Prepare 1/2 cup ice water.

Put flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.

Add butter.


Pulse flour mixture and butter 10-12 times (approximately 1 second per pulse) until the butter and flour resemble coarse meal and the largest butter pieces are no larger than peas.



With motor running add ice water and pulse until the mixture begins to look like dough.


Dump dough out onto a lightly floured surface and quickly press into a ball.


Wrap dough ball in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Now You're Cookin':

Once your dough has chilled at least one hour take it out of the refrigerator and roll into a roughly 11"x15" rectangle.

Cut the dough into either one 10"x14" rectangle or two 5"x7" rectangles.

Place pastry rectangle(s) onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and place in refrigerator.


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel, core and slice apples into 1/8" slices.


In a small bowl mix goat cheese, sugar and 1/2 cup honey.


Take pastry out of the refrigerator and spread a thin layer of the goat cheese mixture on the pastry leaving a 1/2" border on all sides.


Next place apple slices in slightly overlapping layers over the goat cheese.


Combine 1 Tb honey and lemon juice.

Dice butter.

Sprinkle apples lightly with cinnamon.

Brush honey mixture over apple slices.  Dot with butter.


Bake 45 minutes.

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