Rustic Apple Tart - Sour Cream Pastry

Homemade apple pie is one of my favorite winter desserts. But sometimes it just seems like too much trouble. You know what I mean? Rolling out two crusts, peeling and slicing all those apples, making a pretty crimped edge. I just wasn't up for all that today. 

The solution? A little rustic tart. The rustic tart is quicker and easier than a double-crust pie or tart. You can make it free-form on a baking sheet, as I did for my Rustic Peach Tart, or make it in a 9-inch glass pie plate.

I love doing watercolor sketches of the "groceries" and of produce from
my own garden or that of friends and neighbors.

Just make the same amount of dough you would for any 9-inch single-crust pie, but roll it a bit larger to about 14 inches. Center it in the pie plate, not worrying about evening up the ragged edges, pour in the filling, and then bring that raggedy overhanging pastry up over the apples.

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Rustic Apple Tart / Galette / Crostata

(Makes one 8.5-inch round tart, 6 servings)

Sour Cream Pastry 

1 1/4 dip-and-sweep cups (6.25 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sour cream, plus a little more if needed 

Filling

1 1/2 pounds (about 4 medium) apples*
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
Pinch salt 

*I usually use half each of two varieties; such as, Fuji and Pink Lady, Granny Smith and Golden Delicious, or Braeburn and Pippin. 

1 In medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. With coarse grater over bowl, shred the butter over the flour. (Don't try to shred the very last--you'll shred your fingers; just cut it up.) Stir with a large dinner fork, making sure all the shredded butter is coated with flour. Mixture should be very chunky.

2 With the fork, stir in the sour cream. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together and there isn't a lot of dry flour in the bowl, you've used enough sour cream. If not, either add a bit more or sprinkle on up to a tablespoon or so of cold milk, a teaspoon at a time.

3 Turn the crumbly dough out onto a square of plastic wrap and shape it into a 5-inch disk. Wrap tightly in the plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days. 

4 If you've chilled the dough for just 30 minutes or so, you can roll it out without waiting. You'll need to let thoroughly chilled dough stand at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling. Save the square of plastic wrap; you'll be using it again. (I'm very sparing in my use of plastic wrap and like to get as much use out of a piece as possible!) 

5 Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare the filling just before you roll out the pastry. In tiny bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Peel and core the apples, and slice them into a medium bowl. I slice them like this: Peel the apples, cut them in half through the stem end. With a melon baller, remove the core from each half; with paring knife, trim away the peel from the ends. Cut each half in half lengthwise and slice thinly crosswise. You should have about 4 cups. Stir in the sugar mixture. 

6 Lightly flour a square of parchment paper on the counter. Place the disk of dough in the center and sprinkle it lightly with flour. If you like, place the reserved piece of plastic wrap on top of the dough. With floured rolling pin, roll out the disk, rolling from center to edge and rotating by quarter-turns to make a round shape, to a 14-inch circle. Don't worry about ragged edges; this is a rustic tart. 

7 Butter a 9-inch glass pie plate, using about 1/2 teaspoon of butter. Transfer dough to pie plate, paper side up; remove paper. Press dough into the pie plate without stretching, leaving the raggedy-edged overhang untrimmed.

8 Pour in the apple filling in an even layer. Bring the overhang up over the apples a little at a time, sort of "pleating" as you go. Don't try to be cute -- we're going for rustic here! Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 30 minutes. Can be served from the pie plate or lifted out and placed on a serving plate.

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Jean