Peach crostada
Crostada, galette, free-form tart, pan-less pie – whatever you want to call it I made a peach one. Our CSA claims the bumper crop of peaches we’ve been enjoying this summer has come to an end and that these were the last of them.
I made a crostada last week when some dear friends visited. I churned a bit of homemade vanilla ice cream to go along with it, too. The adults oohed and aahed while the kids hit the freezer for Popsicles.
But the crust was so flaky (I used half butter and half lard, a dangerously good combination) and the peaches so sweet and juicy and the bit of cinnamon and nutmeg so perfectly highlighted that sweetness that I wanted to try again and pay attention to what I did.
Nothing could be easier – well, this one would have been easier if I hadn’t bothered to peel the peaches, but bits of peach skin end up being the reason I thought I didn’t like peach pie, so I always peel them.
I then tossed the peaches with some sugar to taste (I used about 1/4 cup, many people would want more I imagine), a sprinkle of cinnamon and a few gratings of freshly grated nutmeg, and a teaspoon of instant tapioca because I like my crostada filling to thicken up a bit. While that hung out in a bowl for a bit I rolled out the crust into a large circle. I may have mentioned this tip before, but it bears repeating that the trick to rolling out dough is to start on a well floured surface and turn the dough a quarter turn after each roll to make sure it isn’t sticking. No need to flip over or any other such fussy nonsense.
I transferred the quite delicate and soft dough (which became an amazingly tender and flaky crust) onto a baking sheet and piled on the peach mixture.
Then you just need to fold up the sides and pinch them lightly into place before sprinkling the whole thing with some castor sugar that you have hanging around in the back of the cupboard from when you made Rye Cookies.
The whole thing then needs to be baked in a hot oven for a good long time – this one took almost an hour and a half (45 minutes at 400 and the rest at 350). Since I hadn’t bothered to seal up the cracks along the edges, it leaked quite a bit. It may not have looked so fabulous on the pan, but it was lovely on the plate, and tasted like the last burst of summer.
A full recipe-style recipe is over at Local Foods as Peach Crostada.
