Pear Applesauce

The scent from a pot of this applesauce simmering on the stove will fill up the kitchen! Using red-skinned pears and apples lends a wonderful pink color to the final product.

In a large saucepan, combine 1/4 cup apple juice with 1 pound Fuji apples (cut into wedges but not peeled!), 1 pound red Bartlett pears (also cut into wedges and not peeled), 1 cinnamon stick, and a quarter of a lemon, cut into 2-inch pieces - reserve the rest of the lemon for another use.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes - the fruit should be very tender. Remove the cinnamon stick.

I had trouble with the first suggested method for turning this fruit mixture into applesauce, which was to press the mixture through a sieve over a bowl, using the back of a spoon. and to discard the skins that got left behind. Perhaps the holes of my sieve are too fine, so instead I used method #2 - to pulse the mixture in a food processor. If you use this way instead, let the fruit cool slightly, peel off the skins from the fruit wedges, and then pulse. Because I was in a rush this afternoon, however, I skipped that step and decided a little bit of fruit peel would add a rustic touch to my applesauce.

However you obtain your applesauce, transfer the mixture to a bowl, and stir in 2 tablespoons organic brown sugar.

This sauce is equally delicious at room temperature or chilled. 1/4 cup is 80 calories.

Cost:
apple juice $1.39
Fuji apples $3.06
red Bartlett pears $2.61
lemon $0.79