Swedish Apple Pie

 

 

Here’s a great apple dessert that’s shamelessly easy to make. “Swedish Apple Pie” has it all, including a misleading name. It is Swedish (called smulpaj, meaning “crumb pie”) and contains apples. But it’s more of a crustless torte than a traditional “pie.” I adapted this recipe from that of my non-Swedish sister-in-law Carol. Simple, inexpensive, and with everything basically thrown into the baking dish, it’s unbeatable. When served, it should be topped with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. The most elegant is heavy cream whipped with a little powdered sugar then a little rum or Bourbon folded in at the end.

5 cooking apples (like Gala or Granny Smith), peeled, cored, in 1/2-inch slices
1 tablespoon sugar for apples
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup butter, unsalted preferred
1/4 cup oil (not olive)
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar for batter
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for serving, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an attractive 10-inch shallow casserole.


Place sliced apples in a bowl. Mix the tablespoon of sugar with cinnamon and lemon zest. Sprinkle evenly over apples. Sprinkle on the lemon juice. Toss to mix and spread out the apple slices in the baking dish. Then use the bowl to beat the egg.

In a different bowl, glass or ceramic, melt butter in microwave, about 1 minute. Add oil, flour, sugar, egg, salt, and nuts. Stir until combined. Spoon batter over apples and spread evenly.

Bake 45 to 55 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm. When serving, top, if desired, with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

 

Ragú Bianco, Italian “White” Meat Sauce for Pasta

 

I used to think Italian meat sauce for pasta was just what gets called “Bolognese,” more correctly “Ragú alla Bolognese,” after the northern Italian city of Bologna. It’s hearty and red and can be quite satisfying. (A recipe for that dish has long been in this blog.) But when I was in northern Italy several years ago, Cortona, in Tuscany, more specifically, I learned of another hearty meat sauce made with cream or milk rather than tomatoes. It is also called “ragú” (the Italian spelling of the French word for stew, ragoût), but is Ragú Bianco, or white ragú.

Ragú Bianco traditionally contains light-colored ground meat, particularly veal or pork. Here, good veal is hard to find and has ethical complexities plus expense. Pork is my favorite. But ground turkey or chicken can be used instead. The sauce often has a little cured pork cooked into it, like pancetta, bacon or even sausage.

 

A spice that is common, though used sparingly, in both the better-known red Bolognese meat sauce (Ragú Rosso) and white ragú is fennel. It gives a subtle, warm, faintly licorice-like essence. Both red and white ragú typically have wine cooked into them.

 

In Italy, the pasta for this ragú is generally an egg-containing flat pasta like taliatelle or fettucine or, wider yet, pappardelle. But, here, an easy-to-get short pasta that the sauce will cling to, like rigatoni or penne rigate, can also work.

 

With pasta in general I like the hearty sheep’s milk cheese, Pecorino Romano, no doubt due to my culinary exposure to Southern Italians when I was growing up. However, for northern Italian dishes, like ragú, the lighter and more elegant cow’s milk cheese Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano) is preferred.

 

The recipe makes enough sauce for a pound of pasta, to serve six or more. But leftovers make a great snack.

1 medium-small carrot, finely diced
1 medium stick celery, finely diced
2 shallots or 1 small onion, finely diced
1 strip of bacon or 2 thin slices of pancetta, finely diced
4 tablespoons olive oil (5 if not using bacon or pancetta)

1 pound ground pork, turkey or chicken

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or cayenne
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon whole fennel seeds or ground fennel

1/8 teaspoon dry thyme
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth, unsalted preferred
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

3/4 cup sour cream or heavy cream

1/4 cup milk

1 pound pasta (such as rigatoni or penne rigate)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping

In a heavy pan, gently fry the diced vegetables and bacon or pancetta in the olive oil, stirring occasionally, until carrot is tender but not browning. 

 

Raise heat and stir in ground meat, breaking it up as it heats. Add herbs and spices, but not the salt When the raw meat color has fully changed, add wine and simmer several minutes. Then add chicken broth and salt and simmer 10 minutes, covered. Add sour cream or cream plus the milk. Simmer 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

Taste and add salt if needed (this will depend on whether the bacon and/or the chicken broth were salty). Keep (or reheat) the sauce hot when cooking the pasta.

When sauce is done, cook pasta in a large amount of boiling lightly salted water, stirring frequently at the beginning, so pasta does not stick together. When just tender to the bite, drain pasta well in a colander, but do not rinse.

 

In large serving bowl, toss most of the heated sauce with the freshly cooked, drained pasta. Top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle generously with grated cheese.