Summer Fruit Crostata

Janet here: I have drooled over the picture of the summer fruit crostata in The Barefoot Contessa at Home for years. For some reason, a crostata looks so sophisticated, so elegant, so European, that I assumed it was just something impossible to make. This past week I finally got up the courage to try it, and I am happy to report a success even though I will admit that I began fantasizing about how much easier this would likely be if I actually owned a food processor. (Yes, it's true, I am a culinary Luddite when it comes to certain equipment, but that's a story for another day.)

Anyway with fresh peaches and blueberries at just about every farmstand I pass these days, this is the perfect time to make this summery dessert. Serve it warm or room temperature, maybe with a little ice cream and voila! you're transported to a little cafe in Paris.


Summer Fruit Crostata

ingredients
for the pastry
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
6 tablespoons iced water

for the filling (makes 1 crostata)
1 pound firm, ripe peaches, peeled
1 pint blueberries
1 tablespoon flour plus 1/4 cup
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoon orange juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced

method
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 flour. (I don't have a food processor so I just did this all by hand, dicing up the butter and then "pulsing" with my fingers. Not ideal I know but it worked.) Pulse 12-15 times until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the iced 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 into a ball, cut in half and form into 2 flat disks. Wrap them in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour. If you only need one crostata, freeze the other one at this point.

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer to a cooking sheet lined with parchment paper.

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

Combine the 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar and salt in the bowl of the food processor with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub 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 20-25 minutes until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender. Let cool for five minutes and then use 2 large spatulas to transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.