tasty apple turnovers

This recipe is from the fun Barefoot Contessa (a.k.a. Ina Garten), who does a great job of improving on classic comfort food. For her apple turnovers, I tried adding a lot more apple filling than she called for (1/3 cup of filling just didn't seem like enough to me), but the results were a little difficult to manage -- lots of torn pastry and loose apples. I recommend using 4 apples instead of the 3 called for in her recipe (but not the 5 apples that I attempted) -- that way your turnovers will be bursting at the seams (but only figuratively) with apple-y goodness.

apple turnovers
makes 8

1 teas orange zest
3 Tbs freshly squeezed orange juice
4 tart apples (I used a combo of granny smith and empire)
3 Tbs dried cherries
3 Tbs sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on top
1 Tbs flour
1/4 teas cinnamon
1/8 teas nutmeg
pinch of salt
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed but chilled
1 egg beaten with a little water, for egg wash

Preheat oven to 400. Combine orange zest and juice in a bowl. Peel, quarter, and core apples, cutting them into 3/4-in chunks. Immediately toss the apples with the zest and juice to prevent browning. Add cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Flour a work surface and lightly roll out the sheet of puff pastry to 12 x 12 square. Quarter into 4 smaller squares. (Keeping the other sheet chilled until ready to use.) Brush edges of pastry with the egg wash and place some of the apple mixture on half of the square. Fold diagonally over apples and seal by pressing the edges with a fork (like a pie crust edge). Keep chilled while you finish filling the rest.

Carefully transfer turnovers to a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush the top with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, and make 2 small slits (to let out steam). Bake for 20-25 minutes until brown and puffed. Serve warm. We had ours with ice cream, but just a dash of cream would be yummy too.