Summer Fruit Crostada

I finally had a proper chance to do this recipe. Ever since I saw it on Barefoot Contessa, I've wanted to make Ina Garten's recipe for Summer Fruit Crostada. I never did because the ingredients were always inferior, and with this recipe you need ripe, gorgeous fruit in their prime.

Enter random assortment of summer fruits delivery from the Organic Farms up here at the new house! And low and behold, we had peaches, blueberries and plums in their summer glory. Yesssssssss!!!!!!!

So I made, we ate, I conquered. This is a Must Do if you like these fruits (and even if you don't you'll find you will love them). There is low sugar as the fruits themselves are the natural sweetener, and it's rather easy to make. Extremely easy if you have a food processor; if not you can still make the dough by hand.

P.S. You can also substitute pears and strawberries or raspberries and keep the blueberries and make this for 4th of July!

Summer Fruit Crostada by Ina Garten

For the pastry (makes 2 crostatas):
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated or superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) ice water

For the filling (makes 1 crostata):
1 pound firm ripe peaches, peeled
1/2 pound firm ripe black plums, unpeeled
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

For the pastry:
Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and toss quickly (and carefully!) with your fingers to coat each cube of butter with the flour. Pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board, roll it into a ball, cut in half, and form into 2 flat disks. Wrap the disks in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. If you only need 1 disk of dough The other disk of dough can be frozen.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to the baking sheet.

For the filling:
Cut the peaches and plums in wedges and place them in a bowl with the blueberries. Toss them with 1 tablespoon of the flour, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the orange zest, and the orange juice. Place the mixed fruit on the dough circle, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.

Combine the 1/4 cup flour, the 1/4 cup sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub it with your fingers until it starts to hold together. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Gently fold the border of the pastry over the fruit, pleating it to make an edge.

Bake the crostata for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender. Let the crostata cool for 5 minutes, then use 2 large spatulas to transfer it to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

My Notes:

She has you making 1 or 2 very large crostadas which are fine. But, my pastry rolling skills are not that great, so I have difficulty rolling out a large pastry dough. Let alone two. So I just make individual crostadas - cut the dough into portions depending on how many people I have, then roll out to same thickness and fill in as directed, fold, etc. Baking time is the same as well.

I also seem to have a Super Oven in my new house, so I need to bake on a lower level. I baked my crostadas for 23 minutes on 400 degrees and they came out great. You might have to do this once with a tester crostada if you're not sure how powerful your oven is. If you do, then go for it - 400-450 degrees is perfect. Anything more will burn, anything less will not get your dough crispy enough. And make sure you keep an eye on it! You don't want the delicate dough to burn!