Roasted Apple Sauce

I procured a box of these lovely liberty apples from SLO Farm at the Fill Your Pantry event a couple of weeks ago. We go through a lot of apples for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but with 20 pounds to use up, we needed to pick up the pace. So I hauled out our apple peeler (another kitchen gadget gift from my mother in law) and got to work on this recipe for Judy Rodger's roasted apple sauce posted as a genius recipe on food52.

The trick is to bake the apples, dotted with butter and covered, until they are soft, and then finish them, uncovered, at high heat that caramelizes the juices. The roasted apples were easily mashed into a sauce that made a delicious accompaniment to waffles for a crowd. And I could imagine them as a nice accompaniment to roasted fowl, if my kids hadn't devoured the remains. We have much to be thankful for this season, not least of which is living in this fertile valley with such delicious produce. Happy Thanksgiving.

Roasted Apple Sauce

Adapted from Judy Rodger's The Zuni Cafe Cookbook

12 apples (3 1/2 - 4 pounds)
2 tsp raw sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
splash of cider vinegar (optional)


1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Peel, quarter, and core the apples and arrange snuggly in a baking pan. Toss with the salt, sugar and cinnamon. Dot with butter and cover tightly with aluminum foil.


2. Bake for about 25 minutes until the apples are soft.


3. Raise the heat to 500 degrees. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for approximately 15 more minutes until the juice has evaporated and the apples have started to brown on their tips.


4. Remove the apples to a bowl and mash to the desired consistency. If desired, add a splash of cider vinegar.