APPLE-APRICOT CROSTATA

3 Granny Smith or other good cooking apples (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup apricot preserves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.

Peel, core and slice apples into crescents about 1/4- to 1/8-inch thick. You should have about 24 pieces.

Put sugar, butter, egg yolks, flour and salt in a large bowl and rub everything together with your fingers or combine ingredients in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process in quick pulses until the dough forms a ball. Either way, do not overwork the dough.

Flouring your hands, shape ball of dough into a round and pat it into the tart pan. Working with your fingers and a cake knife or wide spatula, spread dough evenly around pan and up side. The dough should be about 1/2-inch thick up the side and spread evenly across the bottom of the pan. Trim and flatten edges with a knife. Starting on the outside and working toward the center, lay apple slices in an overlapping, concentric circle.

Heat apricot preserves in a saucepan over low heat until liquefied. Using a pastry brush, paint the apples and the visible crust with apricot glaze.

Place tart pan on a cookie sheet and bake on center rack of preheated 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is deep golden brown, about 45 minutes. Bring to room temperature, unmold and put on a platter or serving dish.

Makes 1 tart; serves 10 to 12
Adapted from source: The New American Cooking by Joan Nathan