Summer Fruit Crostata

One way of overcoming the ‘blah’s’ of our current summer heatwave is to take advantage of some the delicious summer fruit now in season: apricots, peaches, blueberries, and plums. So here is a recipe for easy Summer Fruit Crostata: a single layer of short crust pastry with edges gently folded over a mound of summer fruit. This Italian dessert is traditionally baked in a tart pan with a latticed top, but I was glad to learn that other free-form versions of Crostata are accepted. For me, that meant no more rolling out and crimping double sheets of pastry!*

This recipe was inspired by Ina Garten, however unlike her version, I do not use a food processor to make the pastry dough (handmade is best)!

*For a version featuring pastry cream and mixed fruit, refer to Frank Fariello’s crostata ai frutti di bosco

So let’s get started!

To make the pastry, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut the chilled butter into cubes of about 1/2 inches and work it into the dry ingredients using your fingers until the butter resembles the size of small walnut pieces. Gradually add chilled water until the mixture forms a moist (but not sticky) dough ball. Knead several times, form dough into two small discs and chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Note: since you’ll need only one dough disc for the recipe, you can store the other disc in the freezer until needed.

Roll out one dough disc into a circle measuring 11 inches; dough should be at least 1/8 inch thick. Brush the dough with a thin layer of orange marmalade to prevent a soggy bottom during baking. Add 2-3 cups of the fruit mixture on top of the dough, leaving a margin of 1 1/2 inches around the edges.

Sprinkle some of the crumbed mixture on top and then gently fold the edges of the dough up over the fruit. Brush the edges of the dough with egg wash to produce a nice golden color.

Note: Ina’s recipe calls for white granulated sugar to make the crumb topping, but I use brown (or light brown) sugar to add more color.