
My son and I have a habit of watching the cooking channel together. He salivates and tells me what he likes to eat and I take notes. A few nights ago, we watched The Barefoot Contessa, otherwise known as Ina Garten, make oven applesauce. I have my grandmother’s apple sauce funnel mill that might be the oldest kitchen tool I own. I love it’s thick wood paddle and the obvious elbow-grease that goes into the old recipe, but I was intrigued by Ina’s chunky recipe where the oven does all the work.
I made it to pair with pork chops, but honestly, after four pounds of applesauce, we barely had a cup left for dinner the next day. It’s soooo good! Crazy good, like the middle-of-apple-pie good. Her original recipe calls for 6 pounds of apples, but my Dutch Oven isn’t quite big enough to accommodate that amount, so I tapered the recipe down to 4 pounds.
Serve this alongside pork, in your kid’s lunch or as an after school treat. This is heaven.
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Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 1/2 hours
Yield: a little over 1 1/2 quarts (6-7 cups)
Special equipment: Dutch Oven
2 lbs. green granny smith apples
2 lbs. any variety of sweet red apples
zest and juice of 1 1/2 oranges
zest and juice of 1 small lemon
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. allspice
3 T butter or non-dairy alternative
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Peel and core all apples. Cut into quarters and add to Dutch Oven.
- Add juice, zest, sugar and spices and mix everything together with your hands. Drop butter atop in 1 tablespoon dollops.
- Bake covered, for 1 hour. Remove and use wire whisk to stir and break apples down to desired consistency. Serve warm or at room temperature. Once cooled, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.