Apple Brie Walnut Tart

So, this tart I had been dreaming of making for the last three months turned out well. I am not sure if this is good or bad. Good because I have been looking forward to it and because its always nice to have things turn out well, and bad because I wish I made it earlier. I hope that the apple season is not over yet, because I do not think I can wait until autumn to have it again. It is a delicious and complex concoction. All the flavors in this come through - the buttery rich crust hits you first, the unexpected salty-creamy brie next, the crisp thin apples and a faint bit of honey, and it finishes with the walnut and thyme. Thus, it is not truly a dessert. Perhaps for a lunch or brunch treat on lazy light weekend?
The original inspiration is one of my favorite sandwiches: a few thin Fuji apples slices and some brie on a small walnut roll. I love the combination of apple, nuts, and cheese, but the bread was not quite right. Plus, I am so perfectly enchanted with my newly acquired ability to roll out pastry dough with little fuss and so will use any excuse to make more. Really, I can't recommend making your own pastry strongly enough: after the first few times, it will become much easier. And homemade pastry is worth the effort, it is really is that much better than even the premiere gourmet store stuff. You can simplify the process by breaking it up: for example, I freeze the butter overnight, make the dough before getting dressed in morning and chill it while I dress, and then I am ready to roll it. I press the dough into the pan, cover the whole thing up, and stick it back in the refrigerator until I am ready to make myself the tart (or pie).

Apple Brie Walnut Tart  
1 all-butter pastry shell with 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 tbsp (light) honey
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup chopped walnut (can substitute pecans)
6-7 oz brie, thinly sliced
3-4 small Honeycrisp (or similar crisp-sweet baking apple), coarsely peeled, cored, sliced into 1/8 rounds
1 tsp juice from a lemon (preferably a meyer lemon)
5-7 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
See here for all-butter pastry shell recipe. During the first step of combining flour and salt, add the nutmeg.
While shell is blind-baking: Melt together the honey and butter, set aside. Prep apples by coarsely peeling, coring, and slicing into 1/8 doughnut-shaped rounds, and pour lemon juice over apples. Prep brie by slicing as thinly as possible. Melt together the butter-honey mixture.
Assemble tart: Preheat oven to 395°f. Gently press all but 1 tbsp of the walnut pieces into the prepped shell. Over this, layer brie slices as evenly as possible. Next, layer apple slices in two rows, make sure that the slices overlap in a manner that covers the cored area (see photograph of tart). Sprinkle remaining 1 tbsp of walnut pieces. Then, use a pastry brush to apply the honey-butter mixture. Sprinkle 1/2 of thyme leaves onto the tart. Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven. Sprinkle remaining thyme over tart. Allow to cool for 10 - 25 minutes before removing from pan and slicing. This tart is best served warm.