recipe: apple gorgonzola crostata

last weekend, the boyfriend and i went apple picking in brewster, ny at harvest moon orchards. it was a gorgeous early fall day, and we came away with 20 pounds of apples! having grown up in new england, apple picking is an annual fall outing, though there was one novelty: a long pole with a metal basket on the end for reaching the apples on the tippy top of the trees (the boyfriend is modeling it, above left.)
i had a hard time wielding it so i stuck to the manual method (above right) and that worked just fine for me :)

what do you do with 20 pounds of apples? well, my first thought was to make crostata.
crostata is one of my favorite ways of incorporating fruit into a dessert. it's a little more rustic than pie with its open-faced style, and this riff on traditional apple pie is sweet with a hint of savory, and quick to put together.

apple gorgonzola crostata

ingredients:

pre-made pie crust (i know it isn't terribly hard to make your own crust, but i swear by these!)

4-6 apples, peeled and cut into thick slices

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup gorgonzola, crumbled

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of water (for egg wash)

directions:

preheat the oven to 425 degrees. line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. roll out a pie crust onto the cookie sheet. place cut apples, walnuts, dried cranberries, sugar, cinnamon, and allspice into a large bowl and mix together until well incorporated. pour into the center of the pie crust. sprinkle the gorgonzola over the top of the apple mixture. fold the sides of the pie crust in towards the center. right before putting it in the oven, brush the sides of the pastry with an egg wash (one egg mixed with a little bit of water.)

bake for 40 minutes. slice, top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and enjoy!