Pear Apple And Quince Crostata Recipes

PEAR, APPLE, AND QUINCE CROSTATA

Steps:

• Make roasted fruit:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Peel, quarter, and core pears, apples, and quince, then cut into 1-inch chunks. Toss fruit with sugar, lemon juice, ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves, and 1 tablespoon apple cider in a bowl. Transfer to a large shallow baking pan (17 by 12 inches) and roast, stirring once or twice, until fruit is very soft and caramelized, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
• Remove from oven and add remaining tablespoon apple cider, scraping up caramelized juices from bottom of baking pan. Discard cinnamon stick and cloves. Cool in pan on a rack, about 45 minutes.
• Make pastry shell while fruit roasts:
• Whisk together flour, salt, and 2 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 6 tablespoons ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful: If dough doesn't hold together, add more ice water to dough, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just combined. (Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all of dough together with scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Chill dough, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 14-inch round, then fit into tart pan (do not trim).
• Make brown sugar filling:
• Put a large baking sheet in middle of oven and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low, then add flour and a pinch of salt and mix until just combined. Spread evenly in pastry shell.
• Assemble and bake pastry:
• Scatter roasted fruit with juices over filling. Fold edge of pastry over filling to partially cover (center won't be covered). Pleat dough as necessary. Brush folded pastry edge lightly with egg and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar.
• Bake on preheated baking sheet until filling is puffed and set and pastry is golden brown, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool to warm, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove side of tart pan and slide crostata onto a plate.

APPLE CROSTATA

Steps:

• 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 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 becomes a solid mass. Turn the dough onto a well-floured board and form into a disk. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Flour a rolling pin and roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to a baking sheet.
• For the filling, peel, core, and cut the apples into 8ths. Cut each wedge into 3 chunks. Toss the chunks with the orange zest. Cover the tart dough with the apple chunks leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.
• Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and allspice 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 holding together. Sprinkle evenly on the apples. Gently fold the border over the apples to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle.
• Bake the crostata for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the apples are tender. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

PEAR AND CRANBERRY CROSTATA

Steps:

• 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 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 1/4 cup 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 and form into 2 disks. Wrap the disks with plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Roll each pastry disk into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer them to 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
• For the filling, peel, core, and quarter the pears. Cut each quarter into big chunks. Toss the chunks with the orange zest. Divide the pear chunks between the pastries, covering the dough and leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cranberries over the top of each tart.
• Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and allspice 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 holding together. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the two tarts. Gently fold the border of each tart over the pears, pleating it to make a circle.
• Bake the crostatas for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the pears are tender. Let the tarts cool for 5 minutes, then use 2 large spatulas to transfer them to wire racks.

PEAR AND APPLE CROSTATA WITH FIVE-SPICE WHIPPED CREAM

Steps:

• for crust:
• Mix both flours, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening. Using on/off turns, process until butter and shortening form pea-size pieces. Mix in enough ice water to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)
• for filling:
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Toss to blend. Let stand until juices form, about 15 minutes.
• Roll out dough on lightly floured work surface to 1 1/2-inch round. Transfer dough to unrimmed baking sheet. Mound filling atop dough, leaving 2-inch border. Fold dough border over filling to form 7-inch round, pleating loosely and pinching to seal any cracks in dough. Brush crust and fruit with egg, then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.
• Bake crostata until crust is golden and juices bubble thickly, about 40 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to rack; cool 10 minutes. Slide metal spatula under crust to free from baking sheet. Cool crostata to lukewarm. Using large tart pan bottom as aid, transfer crostata to platter.
• Whip cream, honey and five-spice powder in medium bowl until stiff. Serve crostata lukewarm or at room temperature with whipped cream.
• *A blend of ground anise, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and ginger, available in the spice section of most supermarkets.