This photo got some lovin’ on instagram a few weeks ago and let me tell you, it tastes as good as it looks! Plus, it’s extra-super-simple. I didn’t even get out my rolling pin! I made this earlier in the apple season and used some tiny Gala apples, but right now would be a good time to use Pink Lady apples (or whatever crisp eating apple you can find). Definitely spring for organic. There are only three ingredients in this tart, so make them the best!

Apple Tart

14 oz./375g all-butter puff pastry sheet, defrosted
1 ¼ lbs/500g red eating apples (about 6 small apples)
3 tablespoons apricot preserves
Preheat oven to 450˚ Fahrenheit/230˚ Celsius/Gas Mark 8. Grease a half-sheet pan (18” x 13” or 46cm x 33cm) with a bit of butter. Set aside.
Stretch the puff pastry out to just a teensy bit larger than the sheet pan. (If your pastry is in a block, you’ll need to roll it out on a floured board.) Place pastry in the pan and prick all over (leaving a 1”/2.5cm border) with the tines of a fork and then place prepared pastry in refrigerator.
Core and thinly slice the apples while the pastry rests. You can use an apple corer, but I just like to cut around the four sides very close to the core with a sharp knife. It’s quicker and I don’t get apple juice everywhere. Just cut as close to the core as possible to minimize waste.
When the apples are sliced, remove the prepared pastry from the fridge and lay the apple slices on it in rows, making sure each slice overlaps the one above it, leaving about an inch (2.5cm) of pastry around the edge. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pastry is very deeply browned. Cool on a wire rack.
To make the glaze, heat the apricot preserves along with 1 tablespoon of water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. As soon as the preserves are liquid, strain them through a coarse mesh sieve and then brush the sieved preserves onto the entire surface of the tart with a pastry brush.
Serves 12
Adapted from “Apple tart—quick,” in Rose Prince, Kitchenella (London: Fourth Estate, 2010), 117-118.
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