Before to share my apple sauce recipe, You have to know I have a huge passion for this fruit. Just like my grandmother. Only she made mostly sweets.
She loved apples and there were always a plenty of them at home. Every year, in autumn, after the harvest, my family took several wooden boxes full of apples from the countryside, which were placed in the cellar. Here they were stored, covered with old jute bags or towels, to be preserved and consumed during the winter and the following spring.
My grandma Sara used apples mostly in desserts. I like to use them to make many preparations (for instance, have you ever tasted an apple jam that seems a dessert?).
So here’s an apple sauce for roasts that works well also with hard cheeses.
Apples are perfect if you want an almost-sweet sauce to accompany smoked dishes or roasts or to contrast the flavor of tasty meats, such as a cotechino.
How Many Thoughts Behind a Recipe
I love the mountain and its cuisine. So I appreciate a cutlet served with raspberry jam or a good apple sauce. In the past I used to prepare it. Then for many years I was away from the kitchen, taken by work and the idea that cooking was wrong.
For a thousand reasons, but above all because of the conviction that if you’re making a career you can’t have time for cakes and roasts. And if you advance it, means you are not working enough or that something is wrong. All your time must be absorbed by the work or by the idea of the work itself. In fact, something was wrong. And it was the life I had before. Now that I’ve reinvented myself and revolutionized the future of my world, I spend some great time in the kitchen without feeling guilty. On the contrary, feeling rather happy. I don’t know if it works well for everyone but, in doubt, I suggest you to try it.
Apple Sauce: My Recipe
A preparation so fast and simple that at the third attempt I was about to lose my patience.
Then I sighed, I tasted again, and decided that no, something so bad rarely happens to me to cook it and that I had to do it all over again. That’s it. Without following the directions of a well-known Italian food magazine or even trying to correct it. I just started all over again. Recovering memories of flavors that finally have guided head and hands in the right direction.
The result was appreciated by a large table of friends, and far beyond my expectations. In the sense that, usually, an apple sauce is not made to amaze. More than the main character, it’s the main character’s shoulder. But the hungry wolves sitting around my table to taste the Christmas recipes that I will publish on the blog, have said it’s REALLY good. And here I am, happy to share.
Apple sauce is perfect with roasts but if you have a vegetarian at the table, serve it with a chopping board of hard cheeses.
Many recipes you can find on the web, add a certain amount of sugar, I prefer to make the taste softer by adding cinnamon and star anise.
If you find a passion, never let it go. Get rid of those who say otherwise.
Good seasonal cuisine, Monica
Food TipYou can use any apple you like. I usually prefer a slightly acidic apple like renetta. But in this case I chose a local variety. They are called Abbondanza apples and are an ancient variety from Emilia-Romagna.
Recipe
Ingredients
serves 4
apples, 600g
1/2 lemon juice
cinnamon, 1 stick and 1 teaspoon powder
star anise, 2 pieces
1 large spoonful of Armagnac
1/2 glass of water
1 tablespoon of brown sugar, abundant
Directions
Wash, peel and remove the core from the apples, cut into slices and then into small pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice.
Place sugar and apples in a pan, melt the first stirring over low heat. When the apples seem to start complaining, blend in with Armagnac, raising the flame a little.
Add the water, mix and finally add spices. If the apples seem dry, add a little more liquid.
The sauce should be cooked on a low-medium heat for about 30 minutes. During this time, sometimes stir.
The final result must be an apple puree with, here and there, some pieces.
