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For decades, Ina Garten has equipped home cooks with the tools necessary to feel confident hosting delicious gatherings and making simple yet irresistible dishes. Recently, the Barefoot Contessa star published a memoir detailing her childhood, career, and marriage memories. Since then, it seems her loyal fans have unearthed new details about the Food Network celebrity, drawing them even closer to her.
Recently, the celebrity chef dished the details about her favorite recipe that she’s ever developed. If you’re a long-time fan of Garten, you’d probably imagine that she’d mention her chicken pot pie soup with puff pastry croutons or roasted eggplant Parmesan, but it turns out the cookbook author prefers a much more rustic and sweet dish.
“I think the thing that I’ve made the most is the French apple tart,” Garten said in an interview with Today. “To me, it’s just simple and elegant, which I love.”
To make this fall dessert, create a dough with all-purpose flour, kosher salt, sugar, butter, and ice water. After resting the dough, she layers this pastry onto a prepared sheet pan. Then Garten preps Granny Smith apples and layers them meticulously onto the dough, sprinkles sugar and cubed butter on top, and bakes this tart. After baking, she brushes the caramelized apples with a blend of apricot jelly and Calvados — a brandy made from apples or pears.
This recipe is posted on the Food Network website and boasts nearly 500 five-star ratings. One person left a review saying, “I’ve wanted to make this since I received Ina’s Back to Basics cookbook. This was absolutely perfect. I followed the recipe exactly, it was easy to make and just delicious.” Another user mentioned, “This is simply fabulous! I had a friend tell me that she felt like she was back in Paris!”
With fall in full swing, this tart recipe is the ideal way to use up your haul from apple picking. “It’s got a crisp crust and sweet apples and butter and sugar, and it’s easy to make,” Garten says.
This post originally ran on The Kitchn. See it there: Ina Garten Reveals Her Most “Favorite” Recipe She’s Ever Created (No Wonder It Has Over 400 5-Star Reviews!)
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