Cherry Crostata Recipes

SOUR CHERRY CROSTATA

Steps:

• Make pastry dough:
• Beat together butter and 1/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reserve 1 tablespoon beaten egg, chilled, for egg wash and beat remaining egg into butter mixture, then add vanilla, beating well. Reduce speed to low and mix in flour, salt, and zest until mixture just forms a dough.
• Halve dough and form each half into a 5- to 6-inch disk. Wrap disks in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.
• Make filling:
• Heat butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then add fresh or frozen cherries with any juices and sugar and simmer, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. (Cherries will exude juices.) Continue to simmer until cherries are tender but not falling apart, about 8 minutes. Stir together water and cornstarch to form a thick paste, then stir into simmering filling and boil, stirring frequently, 2 minutes. Cool filling quickly by spreading it in a shallow baking pan and chilling until lukewarm, about 15 minutes.
• Assemble and bake crostata:
• Roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining piece chilled) between 2 sheets of wax paper into a 12-inch round. Remove top sheet of paper and invert dough into tart pan. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch and fold inward, then press against side of pan to reinforce edge. Chill tart shell. Roll out remaining dough in same manner and remove top sheet of paper, then cut dough into 10 (1-inch-wide) strips and slide dough, still on wax paper, onto a baking sheet. Chill strips until firm, about 5 minutes.
• Put a foil-lined large baking sheet in middle of oven and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Spread filling in chilled tart shell and arrange 5 strips 1 inch apart across filling, pressing ends onto edge of tart shell. Arrange remaining 5 strips 1 inch apart diagonally across first strips to form a lattice with diamond-shaped spaces. Trim edges of all strips flush with edge of pan. Brush lattice top with reserved beaten egg and sprinkle crostata with remaining tablespoon sugar.
• Bake crostata in pan on baking sheet in oven until pastry is golden and filling is bubbling, about 1 hour. (If lattice and edges look too brown after 30 minutes, loosely cover with foil.) Cool crostata completely in pan on a rack, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, to allow juices to thicken.

CHERRY BROWN BUTTER CROSTATA WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM AND CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• For the ice cream: In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar, and vanilla bean. Bring just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat.
• In a small bowl, combine the eggs and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat to a homogeneous consistency.
• Strain a third of the cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisk to combine, and then immediately whisk the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the cream. Chill in an ice bath and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
• Churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• For the crust: Combine the butter, flour and salt in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks like grated Parmesan. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of the ice water, and pulse until the mixture forms a rough ball, adding the remaining 2 tablespoons ice water if needed. Remove the dough from the food processor and form into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• For the filling: Melt the butter in a small saucepan and cook it until it starts to brown and begins to smell like hazelnuts. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a paddle. Add the sugar and beat on medium speed.
• Gradually add the flour. Once the flour has combined, add the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla bean seeds.
• To assemble: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Dust a clean work surface with flour. Roll out the dough to a 1/8-inch thickness, and cut into 4 rounds. Lay the rounds in four 4-inch ring molds, leaving lots of overhang on the sides. Schmear the filling into the bottom of the ring molds, and top with the cherries. Fold the overhanging dough over the cherries. Brush the dough with the egg wash. Bake until golden brown and crispy on top, 45 to 50 minutes.
• For the caramel: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons water. Bring the pan to medium-high heat; while doing so, be careful not to swish the pan around--it could cause the sugar to recrystallize. As the sugar mixture boils, the water will eventually evaporate and the sugar will begin to turn brown, or "caramelize." Pay close attention! Things can take a terrible turn for the worse here, and there will be no recovery. As the sugar turns gold, followed by light brown, and then a pale shade of darker brown, remove it from the heat and add the heavy cream. Be careful when you do this--it will bubble up like crazy, and getting it on you could cause a severe burn! Be sure to have a saucepan large enough to accommodate the bubbling up. Whisk until things settle down, then add the butter, 2 pats at a time, whisking until completely incorporated before adding more butter.
• Spread some of the caramel onto four serving plates. Unmold the crostatas and set them on top of the caramel. Top with a scoop of ice cream.

CHERRY CROSTATA

Steps:

• Prepare crostata dough: Sift 2 1/2 cups flour.
• Place flour, butter (minus 1 tablespoon), sugar, salt, and lemon zest in food processor.
• Pulse until mixture is moistened and crumbly.
• Add egg yolks and pulse until mixture just begins to form a ball of dough. (Crust can be mixed by hand if you do not have a food processor).
• Remove dough and flatten into a disk.
• Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Unwrap dough and place it on a floured work surface.
• I have a little better luck rolling out the dough if I let it come back to room temperature a bit.
• Roll out crust into a circle about 12 inches in diameter.
• Transfer circle to a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Using a fork, prick holes in the crust about 5 or 6 times.
• In saucepan over low heat, warm cherry (or strawberry) jam with remaining 1 tbsp butter.
• Spread warm jam in a thin layer over the crust, leaving about 1 1/2 to 2 inches around the edges for a border.
• Spread fresh cherries over the jam.
• Fold the outer edges of the dough over the fruit, leaving about a 6-8 inch circle of the cherries showing in the middle.
• I turned the halved cherries that were visible in the middle skin side up to make the crostata look a bit more uniform.
• Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
• Let cool.
• Dust with powdered sugar if desired, and serve.

TOMATO & GOAT CHEESE CROSTATA

Steps:

• For the pastry, place the flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse to combine. Add the diced butter and toss carefully with your fingers to coat each piece of butter with flour. Pulse 12 to 15 times, until the butter is the size of peas. While pulsing, add the ice water all at once through the feed tube. Pulse to combine, stopping just before the dough forms a ball. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board and form it into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for one hour.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450˚ F. Heat the 4 tablespoons butter in a large (12-inch) sauté pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add the leeks, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and sauté for 8 minutes, until the leeks are tender and starting to brown. Set aside. Place the tomatoes on a plate, sprinkle them with salt and pepper and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Set aside.
• On a floured board, roll the dough into an 11-inch circle, then place it on a sheet of parchment paper. Turn a sheet pan upside down and transfer the paper to the inverted pan. Spread the leeks on the pastry, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Crumble the goat cheese evenly on top. Arrange the tomatoes over the goat cheese, overlapping the slices because they will shrink. Turn the edges of the pastry up and over the tomatoes, crimping so they lie flat. Brush the pastry with the egg wash. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is nicely browned. Allow to cool on the pan for 5 minutes, sprinkle lightly with the fresh herbs and salt, cut in wedges and serve warm.

APRICOT AND CHERRY CROSTATA

Steps:

• Make crust
• Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter; cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Blend in water by tablespoonfuls until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 30 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)
• Roll out dough between 2 sheets of plastic to 11-inch round. Remove top sheet of plastic from dough and invert dough onto 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Remove second sheet of plastic. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of pan. Fold excess dough in, forming double-thick sides. Pierce dough all over with fork. Freeze 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake crust until set but still pale, piercing with fork if crust bubbles, about 25 minutes. Cool on rack. Maintain oven temperature.
• Make filling
• Blanch apricots in pot of boiling water 1 minute. Transfer to bowl of ice water to cool. Drain. Peel, halve and pit apricots. Cut each apricot half into 3 wedges. Arrange, rounded side down, in crust. Arrange cherries over and around apricots. Sprinkle sugar over.
• Bake tart until apricots are tender, about 50 minutes. Transfer to rack. Stir apricot preserves in heavy small saucepan over low heat until melted. Strain. Brush strained preserves over fruit in tart. Remove pan sides from tart. Place tart on platter. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)