Roasted Applesauce

Applesauce is traditionally made on the stove; it's how I've always known it done. Roasting concentrates flavor and requires little attention, so this approach seems obvious and very appealing. I don't want to babysit a pot of apples for this amount of time; I want to throw them in a dish and forget about them until the kitchen timer goes off.

I wanted to add some apple and lemon juice, but with none in the house I went with some water and skipped the acid. I was a little concerned that it would be missed but my batch is delicious.
I used some sweet Gala apples, and left the skins on. They are tasty and filled with antioxidants.

If you don't want the skins you can peel the apples before coring and slicing. Decided later you don't want them? Send the mixture through a food mill.

Roasted Applesauce

4 large apples, cored and chopped
1/4 cup water
1/2 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Prepare the apples and toss them in a baking dish. Add the water, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and toss to coat the apples. Bake for 50-60 minutes until the apples are very mushy. Shmoosh (yes, shmoosh) the apples with a spatula or potato ricer to the consistency you desire. Allow to cool completely before storing in the fridge in an airtight container.

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As you can see the volume really shrinks after baking. This is a small batch, and it's so good you may need to make more quickly! Easily doubled or tripled, provided you have a baking dish that will fit.

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