Ingredients
1 lemon, halved
6 small firm baking apples (about 1 1/2 pounds), such as Empire or Cortland
1/3 cup (1 ounce) chopped walnuts
1/4 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pound coarse salt
Preparation
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Squeeze lemon juice into a medium bowl filled with cold water. Using a sharp knife, remove stem from each apple. Using a melon baller, remove cores and hollow out apples until walls are about 3/4 inch thick. Place apples in water.
Place walnuts on a baking pan; toast until fragrant and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Let the walnuts cool, and roughly chop.
Place walnuts, cranberries, ginger, apricots, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl.
Drain apples; spoon walnut filling into each cavity, packing fairly tightly. Place apples in a baking dish just large enough to hold them all. Add salt, being careful not to get any salt in the filling; fill until the salt covers the apples up to where the filling begins. Cover with a sheet of aluminum foil.
Bake until apples are tender and start to pull away from salt, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly. Remove apples from salt; serve.
