Crostatas

The 2010 November Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Simona of Briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers' to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi's Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

I have always loved a good pie! Apple, peach, cherry, pumpkin, banana cream... you name it, I will try it! So when crostatas came up as this month's Daring Baker Challenge, I was so excited to get started. As I do not yet have a tart pan, I decided to try two different free-form crostatas. I used a recipe that I found on Food Network from Ina. It became my base for both an Apple & a Peach Crostata.

The dough was a fairly basic dough. I am not sure if it is the amount of moisture in the air in Coronado, but I have found out that with most things, I have to add extra flour when I roll them out in order to get a workable consistency & not too sticky.

They both came out beautifully! I decided not to peel the apples, as usually in my pies I don't either. I like the texture they add to the dessert.

The peach was also delicious. I added a hint of rosemary to it, just to mix it up a bit. You couldn't really taste it. I think that next time I will try this again, but add a bit more.

The warm, buttery crust was amazing! Along with the sweet crumble topping... both were a big hit at the dinner party that I took them too that night.