Raw spiced applesauce

Remember that apple slide show from Sunset magazine a few weeks ago? Just about everything on it looks good to me, but I made the apple corn muffins first. This recipe is much faster and simpler.

I don’t really like eating red apples raw, for whatever reason. But these are perfect in this applesauce.

You need to cut up four Red Delicious apples and put them in a blender to get them the right texture. But only about half of the apple chunks fit in the blender, so I chopped those a bit first and then added the rest. You may be able to fit more in your blender if you cut them into smaller pieces, but that would be more work.

When you’re zesting the orange, hold the grater still and turn the orange (instead of moving the grater while keeping the orange still). And don’t go overboard — you want to avoid the white part.

You leave the skin on the apples, so the applesauce has pretty little red flakes (and the healthy stuff that’s in the skin). The original recipe also called for a dollop of Greek yogurt on each serving, but I don’t have any so I didn’t use it. I think it was fine without it. But I do recommend throwing some toasted, chopped pecans on top.

Raw spiced applesauce (adapted from Sunset)
4 Red Delicious apples
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves*
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch kosher salt
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans**

Cut the apples, leaving the skin on but discarding the cores. Place apple chunks, zest, orange juice and spices in a blender or food processor and blend until finely pureed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Sprinkle pecans on top of applesauce just before serving. Makes 4-6 servings.

*The original recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom, which I totally thought I had. But I didn’t. So I used nutmeg and cloves instead.

**To toast pecans, preheat oven to 350. Place the pecans on a cookie sheet with edges and bake for about 5 minutes, just until they start smelling nutty. Remove and let cool.