Apple & Walnut Crostata
Every western culture has their own take on how to combine butter, flour, sugar and fruit into a delicious dessert. And that starts with the pastry. This recipe gives a beautiful versatile pastry that is made in the food processor in minutes, freezes well, and can be pulled out for a multitude of uses. In the US it’s an apple tart or pie; in France, a galette. In Italy, their spin on apple pie is a crostata. Made with this beautiful flaky pastry dough, filled with apples, cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins topped with ice cream. It is simply, satisfyingly delicious. A perfect ending to this trifecta of winners in this meal.
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 1½ cup All-Purpose Flour
- 8 T Butter cold, cut into cubes
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Granulated Sugar
- 8 T Water iced, very cold
Filling:
- 3-4 Medium Size Apples about 1½ pounds (recommend gala, pink lady, or pipen)
- 2 T Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- ¼ cup Raisins
- ¼ cup Walnuts roughly chopped
- 1 Egg beaten
- 2 T Turbinado or Demerara Sugar
Instructions
Pastry:
- In a food processor, add the flour, salt, and sugar; pulse a few times until combined.
- Add the butter and then pulse until the mixture has bits of butter the size of peas.
- Add the cold water and pulse just until the mixture starts to come together. Dump the dough onto a large piece of plastic film: use the plastic to bring the dough together.
- Flatten into a disk and chill at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 400° F. If you have a pizza stone, place it on a rack in the middle of the oven.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into a circle about 14 inches in diameter,
- Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet pan. Place in refrigerator for 10 minutes.
Fruit:
- Peel and cut the apples into slices. Place in a medium size bowl and toss with brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins and nuts.
- Remove the pastry from the refrigerator. Pile the apple nut mixture on the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the dough border over the fruit, making pleats and making sure that there are no holes.
- Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Place the baking sheet into a 400° oven directly on the pizza stone for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.
- Carefully pull on the parchment paper to remove the crostata from the baking sheet and place onto a cooling rack; cool for 15-20 minutes before slicing. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Tips & Tricks:
– Pastry can be made 3 days ahead and kept in refrigerator. Place disc into a ziplock bag and freeze. It freezes beautifully up to 3 months. Defrost in refrigerator overnight.
– Use any firm apple that is your favorite or in season.
– Use regular or golden raisins.
– You can also use different nuts; almonds, pecans or hazelnuts are delicious.
– The turbinado or demerara sugar adds a nice sweet crunch to the pastry.
– Baking the crostata on a pizza stone helps the crust brown and keep crispy.
– The crostata is best served warm to room temperature.