What to do when you’ve got a bunch of apples in a bowl that are starting to get a little soft? Cut them up, throw them in a pot with some sugar and lemon juice and make applesauce!
Said soft apples, cut up in a pot with a splash of water and 1/3 cup sugar:
Squeeze a half a lemon:
All stirred up:
Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for about half an hour, until they’re mushy but still have their skins on. You want to be able to stick a fork in them easily.
Then put them in a food mill:
Start turning. You’ll see the apple sauce coming out the bottom:
You may need to use a spatula to direct the apples under the blade of the food mill. Keep turning until they’re all pureed:
Voila:
Taste for sugar (you probably won’t need any) and season with nutmeg and cinnamon:
Store in glass rather than plastic. I didn’t have quite enough glass so I did both. I’ll use the plastic first.
Applesauce
6 to 8 apples, cut into 8ths, including skins, stems and seeds
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Bring the apples, sugar, water, lemon juice and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.
Pass the apples through a food mill. Taste for sugar. If you like more, add some. Season with nutmeg and cinnamon to taste.
Yield: About 4 cups.
