Homemade Applesauce

I needed some applesauce the other day for the cookies I was making. And since I was a bit in a hurry I used some storebought. It tasted not horrible, but it had that bland taste of nothing. I just couldn't eat it alone. And it didn't give such a great taste to the cookies either.
But I wanted to make those cookies again (I got a little addicted to them), and thought this time I'd do the things right.
Apples are fruit that never miss on my countertop and the wonderful golden homemade applesauce was ready in no time. This time really delicious, tasting like apples. And so were my cookies.
The rest is in the fridge, but you may be sure it won't last long. I can't stop eating it with a spoon.
It tastes so good. Just delicatly sweet and tart from lemon juice (that also helped it keep this beautiful golden colour), and even more delicatly cinnamon scented (you may use ground cinnamon as well, but with a cinnamon stick it's kind of better I think).


Homemade Applesauce

* 2 big apples (Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Granny Smith, Fuji, etc.)
* 2 TBspoons sugar
* juice and zest of 1/2 (organic) lemon
* a piece of cinnamon stick
* 90 ml water


 Wash and dry the lemon. Peel a couple pieces of the zest and squeeze the juice. Put the juice, the zests, the sugar and the water in a saucepan.
Peel, core and chop the apples. Add them to the saucepan, as well as the cinnamon stick, and bring everything to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer covered for 15-20 minutes (it will depend on the type of apples you use) or until the apples are very soft and the liquid has almost evaporated.
Remove the cinnamon stick and the lemon zests. Mash the apples with the potato masher (if you like chunkier sauce) or run them through a food mill (if you like it smoother).
It's easy as that. Store in the fridge for up to a weak or freeze for up to a year (if you're making a big quantity of course).
You may add it to your yogurt, ice cream, or to substitute part of the fats in cakes. You may also serve it with roast pork. It's delicious even on its own, just eaten with a spoon directly from a jar.

 * the quantity of sugar and lemon may be adjusted according to your taste and the type of apples you use, depending on how sweet they are.

 Salsa di mele - applesauce


* 2 mele grandi (a scelta tra: Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Granny Smith, Fuji, o simili)
* 2 cucchiai di zucchero
* succo e qualche pezzo di buccia di 1/2 limone
* un pezzettino di bastoncino di cannella
* 90 ml di acqua


Lavate bene e asciugate il limone. Con un coltellino pelate qualche pezzettino di buccia (solo la parte gialla) e spremete il succo. Mettete il succo, la buccia, lo zucchero e l'acqua in un pentolino.
Pelate la mela e tagliatela a pezzettini. Unitela agli altri ingredienti nel pentolino insieme alla cannella e portate a ebollizione. Abbassate la fiamma e lasciate cuocere per 15-20 minuti circa (dipende dal tipo di mele che usate) finché le mele diventino molto morbide e quasi tutto il liquido sia evaporato.
Schiacciate le mele oppure passatele al passaverdure se preferite la salsa più liscia.
Servitela tiepida o fredda. Si conserva in frigo per una settimana oppure nel freezer fino a un'anno.
Ottima con lo yogurt, gelato, o per accompagnare arrosti. Se usata nei dolci può sostituire una parte dei grassi nella ricetta.


* potete aggiungere più o meno zucchero e limone rispetto le quantità nella ricetta secondo i vostri gusti e il tipo di mele che usate.

 Umak (pire) od jabuka - applesauce


 * 2 jabuke (po izboru: Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Granny Smith, Fuji)
 * 2 žlice šećera
 * 1/2 neprskanog limuna (sok i par komadića korice)
 * štapić cimeta
 * 90 ml vode


 Operite i posušite limun. Nožićem skinite tri, četiri komadića kore (samo gornji žuti dio) i iscijedite sok 1/2 limuna. Stavite sok i korice u posudu u kojoj ćete kuhati jabuke.
Jabuke ogulite i narežite na komadiće. Dodajte ih u posudu s limunovim sokom. Dodajte šećer, vodu i štapić cimeta. Stavite da prokuha, a zatim smanjite vatru da se jabuke lagano kuhaju 15-20 minuta dok ne vidite da su jako mekane. Pred kraj skinite poklopac tako da ispari višak vode.
Izvadite štapić cimeta i korice limuna, a ostatak smrvite gnječilicom za krumpir ili (ako volite da nema komadića jabuka) propasirajte na pasirku.
Možete ga poslužiti toplog ili rashlađenog u hladnjaku. U zamrzivaču može stajati do godinu dana.
Posluživanje: poslužite ga kao dodatak jogurtu, sladoledu ili za pripremu raznih slastica, kao i uz pečenja.


 * količinu limuna i šećera možete prilagoditi osobnom ukusu i s obzirom na vrstu jabuka koje koristite.