Rosemary Dark Chocolate Apple Crostata

As soon as October rolled around I had an intense craving for apple pie. I could almost taste it in my mouth if I thought about it hard enough, eyes closed and tummy growling. Sweet tart apples, laced with spices and enveloped by a hearty crust. Simple yet complex at the same time. Apple pie conjures childhood memories of time spent with my grandmother, or Maw Maw as we liked to call her. We would sit around her lace-lined table in the dining room, eagerly awaiting a slice of her Dutch apple pie. Once in front of me I tried to eat as slowly as humanly possible, savoring every last morsel until my plate was licked clean.

While in New York last month, we ventured upstate to spend the day in New Paltz hiking around Lake Minnewaska and taking in as much fall as we could. We passed many pumpkin patches and apple orchards along the way, those bright little orbs beacons for the season’s beautiful harvest. Before we headed back to the city, we stopped into Jenkins Leuken Orchards so I could buy a pumpkin and some apples. The northern spy apples caught my eye with their pale green and rosy hues and rather interesting name. After eating one that evening, the sweet-tart juices running down my chin, I made a plan to ferret these beauties back to Texas with me, no matter how much I had to shift around my luggage.

Once home I decided to finally satisfy my pie craving with a crostata, which is basically a fancy name for a free-form pie or tart. I started envisioning what it would look and taste like, perhaps with rosemary from our container garden and bits of bittersweet dark chocolate laced within the slices of apple. Upon taking the first bite I was right back at Maw Maw’s dining table, the grandfather clock chiming and her cackling echoing from the kitchen. I savored every last bite…then immediately went in for seconds 😉

 

Rosemary Dark Chocolate Apple Crostata

crust
130g brown rice flour, plus a bit more to roll out the dough
25g almond meal
45g arrowroot flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum or psyllium husk
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
40g coconut sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean)
70g melted coconut oil
40g unsweetened applesauce
room temperature water as needed to bring the dough together

filling
2 sweet tart apples (such as Northern Spy, Honeycrisp, or Pink Lady), sliced
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp coconut sugar
heaped 1/2 tsp ground cardamom or cinnamon
1.5 oz chopped dark chocolate (about half of a standard sized bar)

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. In the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl by hand), whisk together the flours, salt, xanthan gum, and rosemary. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut sugar, vanilla, coconut oil, and applesauce until the sugar has mostly dissolved and the mixture is smooth. With the mixer running on low (or by hand), slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Once the wet ingredients have been incorporated, add room temperature water to the dough little by little until it starts to form a smooth and slightly sticky ball. Once the dough is ready, form it into a disc, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it sit on the counter at room temperature for 15-30 minutes.

While the dough is resting, make the filling. Combine the apples, lemon juice, coconut sugar, and spices in a bowl and toss to combine. Set the filling aside until you have rolled out the dough.

To make the crostata, you’ll need a large baking sheet and a piece of parchment paper large enough to fit the baking sheet. Place the parchment on your counter, then sprinkle it with a light dusting of brown rice flour. Unwrap the dough and place it in the middle of the parchment. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a circle that is roughly 10-12 inches in diameter (it’s okay if it hangs over the edge of the parchment because you will be folding the edges over the filling). Once the dough is ready, carefully transfer the sheet of parchment (with the dough) onto your baking sheet. Sprinkle roughly 2/3 of the chopped chocolate evenly over the surface of the dough leaving about a 1.5 inch border clear around the edges. Next, arrange the apple filling over the chocolate in an even layer, again making sure to leave about a 1.5 inch border clear around the edge of the dough. Once you have the apple layer down, sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of the chopped chocolate over the top of the apples. To finish the crostata, fold the edges of the dough over the apples, pressing gently to keep the dough in place (see pictures for clarification of this step).

Bake the crostata for 25-30 minutes until the dough is turning golden and the apples have softened. Allow the crostata to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Store leftovers covered at room temperature for up to 2 days. Makes 6-8 servings.