Crostata Crumble

I have been seeing lots of recipes for crostatas and wondered what they are for sure. So I went to wikipedia... my look up dictionary and it says "is an Italian baked dessert tart, and a form of pie... I love pies and desserts so why not try and make some myself. They look simple enough, but it also said " the jams that are typically used as a filling are cherries, peaches, apricots, and berries. Well, I didn't want to use a jam ~ I just wanted to use fruit... Fruit like apples and maybe peaches.

My next step was to get some apples..Well, that won't be a problem, my brother has apples in his yard, so all I have to do it go and pick some. We went there one day and the apples were at the top of the trees, so my husband climbed the trees and threw the apples down to me ~~ the hardest part I had was catching them right? Have you ever tried to catch an apple that was thrown down from the top of the tree... Not so easy and a few fell to the ground and rolled down the gully.. No I didn't go and get them. Those ones will be easier for the animals to eat :).

a bag full of yummy apples

Now I have the apples... the next step was to find a recipe.. So google search, here I come and I came across an article called Crostatas: They are easy as pie and it gave me an idea of how to make them and the pie crust looked great so I thought I would try it.  I made these twice.  The first time I made them, I used bought pie crust as I was in a hurry and wanted to make them for dessert for my company, they were good but they tasted store bought.  The second time I made them I made my own pie crust from the recipe in the article and wow.. what a difference.

..... And Crostatas are easy as pie

Here is how I made mine.

Ingredients:

pie crust either homemade or store bought

For home made pie crust: (adapted from Crostatas: They are easy as pie - called pasta frolla)

   3cups unbleached all purpose flour

   1 cup confectioner's sugar

   1/4 tsp salt

   finely grated zest of one lemon

   1 cup cold unsalted butter (cut in 1/2 inch cubes)

   1 large egg 

   2 large egg yolks 

3-4 apples or peaches cut in slices

sugar to sprinkle over crust

1 egg white whisked with 1 tsp milk

1/4 cup oats

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp butter

caramel topping - homemade or store bought

For homemade caramel topping  I used this recipe from The Slow Roasted Italian no fail caramel sauce.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

If using homemade pie crust, make this first as it needs to be refrigerated for at least an hour prior to using.  In large bowl, combine flour, confectioner's sugar, salt and lemon zest.  Cut butter and place in bowl and mix together until mixture is crumbly.  Add egg and egg yolks and mix until  the dough comes together.  I use my hands to mix this but you can also use a food processor fitted with metal blade.  Once dough comes together take out of bowl and place on work space with small amount of flour on the table.  Knead it briefly and shape into disc or ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Once ready to make crostatas, take homemade crust or store bought crust out of refrigerator and let sit for at least 45 minutes.  While waiting for the crust to become pliable to work with, slice apples or peaches.  I added a bit of lemon juice to my apples so they didn't get brown. If using store bought pie crust roll out and cut into approx 5 inch circles ( I used a glass bowl to do this).  I then rolled out the left over dough and cut more circles.  I was able to get 6 circles out of one pie crust.  If using homemade dough, knead slightly and roll out to about 1/8 inch high~ using glass bowl cut into 5 inch circles.  Place on cookie sheet covered with baking mats or parchment paper.

Place 5 -6 slices of peaches or apples in the center of each dough circle.  Bring edges of the dough up around the fruit.  Whisk 1 egg white with 1 tsp mild until frothy.  Brush edges of dough with egg wash.  Sprinkle with sugar, you can also sprinkle fruit with sugar if you would like it sweeter.

To make crumble combine oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Cut butter into small pieces and mix with oat/flour mixture until it is crumbly.  Sprinkle this mixture over the center of your crostatas.  

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, turn down to 350 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown in colour.  Let cool for a few minutes and drizzle caramel sauce over the entire individual crostata.

* You can make this in a big pie also, instead of cutting in individual 5 inch round pieces, just roll out the store bought pie crust or homemade pie crust to 9 or 10 inch round.  I used a tart pan to make my big crostata as it was easier to carry, but it can be placed on cookie sheet also.

dry ingredients and cut butter

mix until crumbly

                     

add eggs

mix until you can form ball or disc

roll out dough and cut into 5" circles

add apples to center of dough 

Add peaches to center of dough

drizzle caramel over crostata

large pie... 

drizzled with caramel sauce after baked

Enjoy with ice cream

Til next time <3 <3 <3  Marlys

Linking this recipe to Mommy's Sweet Confessions, Tasty Thursdays, Mix it up Mondays, Tastetastic Thursdays