French Apple Tart

I have been making this recipe from the Barefoot Contessa for a couple of Thanksgivings at this point. My mom demands that I make it at every holiday because it is so delicious. I'm a huge fan of French pastries, and this is a pretty accesible recipe to make. I overcooked it a bit but it was still good!

 For the pastry:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 12 tablespoons (11/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cubed
• several tablespoons of ice water

For the apples:

• 4 Granny Smith apples
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup apricot jam
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions

1. For the pastry, measure the flour, salt, and sugar into a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the cold butter and pulse until the butter is cut into the dough and is the size of peas. Alternatively, you could use a pastry cutter. It's just so much faster in the processor. Add the ice water 1 tablespoonful at a time until the dough just forms into a ball. Wrap dough ball in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I just used a tart pan and rolled out the extra dough onto a baking sheet. You don't want to skip this step since the baked apples make a mess.

3. Roll the dough in between 2 sheets of plastic wrap so it fits on the baking sheet or tart pan. Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.

4. Peel the apples and slice as thinly as possible. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices. Sprinkle with the full 1/2 cup of sugar and dot with the diced butter (solid coconut oil works too). This beautiful tart was put together by my sister and me.

5. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is lightly browned and the edges of the apples just start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine! When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly together with some water and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Sometimes I just skip the jelly step and serve the tart as is depending on my mood. It is great either way!