Apple and Pomegranate Tart

Apple and Pomegranate Tart
Recipe by Dragon

I love, love pomegranate juice. So you can imagine how happy I was when the nice people at POM Wonderful sent me some coupons for pomegranate juice. The sweet tartness of pomegranate juice is the only thing that quenches my thirst some days. I decided to make a flavourful pomegranate syrup to create this gorgeous and delicious tart. The pomegranate syrup combined with the tart apples makes for a perfect flavour combination. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 cups pomegranate juice
3/4 cup port wine
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
10 whole peppercorns
3 strips of lemon peel
4 granny smith apples
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
course sugar
pomegrante seeds to garnish

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, combine pomegranate juice, wine, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise, peppercorns and lemon peel. Boil pomegranate juice mixture until reduced to a syrup consistency. This takes about 15-20 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 375 F. Peel, core and slice the apples. Combine the apple slices with the white sugar and lemon juice. Toss to coat the apple slices.

3. Roll out puff pastry to 11"x11". Transfer the pastry to a 9 inch tart pan (with removable bottom). Trim the pastry around the edges but leave enough to take into account shrinkage during baking.

4. Brush some of the syrup on the puff pastry bottom. Arrange the apple slices in concentric circles over the syrup to cover it. Brush the tops of the apples with more syrup and sprinkle with a little course sugar.

5. Bake the tart in the center rack of the oven for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Let it cool for 15 minutes before serving. Serve, garnished with more syrup and pomegranate seeds.