Dried Fruit And Nut Crostata Recipes

CROSTATA WITH DRIED APRICOTS AND TALEGGIO

Steps:

• For the crust: Add the flour, salt, and sugar to a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is finely chopped and the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the mascarpone cheese and lemon juice and pulse a few times. Add the ice water and run the machine just until the mixture is moist and crumbly, but does not form a ball. Do not overmix. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Press into a disk, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• For the filling: Put an oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the apricots, walnuts, lemon zest, cinnamon, and sea salt. Add the honey and stir until all the ingredients are coated. Stir in 2/3 of the cheese.
• Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit inside a 12 by 17-inch baking sheet and put it on a work surface. Put the chilled dough on the parchment paper. Roll the dough into an 11-inch circle, about 1/4-inch thick. Lift the parchment paper and transfer it to a baking sheet. Put the apricot filling in the center of the dough, spreading evenly, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the dough border over the filling to form an 8-inch round. Pleat the edge of the pastry and pinch to seal any cracks in the dough. Arrange the remaining cheese on top of the filling.
• Using a pastry brush, brush the crust with the beaten egg. Bake until the crust starts to turn golden, about 15 to 18 minutes. Cover the crostata loosely with a piece of foil and cook until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted, another 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the crostata from the oven to a cutting board and uncover. Cool for 10 minutes, then cut into slices and arrange on a serving platter. Serve while still warm.

PEAR CROSTATA WITH FIGS AND HONEY

Steps:

• For crust:
• Blend first 4 ingredients in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Remove lid; spoon 3 tablespoons ice water over mixture. Return lid to processor; using on/off turns, blend mixture until dough forms ball, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Flatten dough into disk; wrap in plastic and chill at least 20 minutes. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.
• For filling:
• Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 400°F. Whisk first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Add pears and figs; toss gently. Roll dough out on lightly floured parchment to 14-inch square or round. Transfer parchment with rolled-out crust to rimless baking sheet. Mound pear mixture with juices in center of crust, leaving 2- to 3-inch plain dough border. Using parchment as aid, fold dough up over edges of pear mixture, pleating edges and pinching to seal any cracks in dough, forming square or round. Brush crust edges with cream; sprinkle generously with raw sugar.
• Bake crostata until crust is golden, pears are tender, and juices are bubbling thickly, covering crust edges with foil if browning too quickly, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove crostata from oven; drizzle 2 tablespoons honey over hot filling. Run long thin knife or spatula around edges of warm crostata to loosen. Cool crostata on parchment on baking sheet until slightly warm, at least 1 hour. Transfer to platter. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

MIXED FRUIT-AND-NUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
• Put butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until smooth. Add sugars, and mix until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs one at a time until combined; mix in vanilla.
• Reduce mixer speed to low. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in coconut, apricots, dates, macadamias, and pistachios.
• Drop batter, 2 heaping tablespoons at a time, onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven; transfer cookies on parchment paper to a wire rack to cool completely.

WINTER FRUIT AND NUT CROSTATA

Steps:

• 1 Prepare the pastry, if necessary. Let the dough soften briefly at room temperature. Place the larger disk of dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and roll it out to form a 12-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. 2 When the dough is ready, remove the top sheet of plastic wrap. Using the remaining sheet to lift the dough, center the dough in a 9- to 10-inch tart pan, with the plastic-covered side up. Peel off the plastic wrap. Gently press the dough into the base of the pan and along the sides. Roll the rolling pin over the top of the pan and trim off the overhanging dough. Gently press the dough against the sides of the pan to create a rim higher than the edge of the pan. Refrigerate the pastry shell 30 minutes. 3 In a medium saucepan, combine the prunes, raisins, and water. Cook over low heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Let cool. In a food processor or blender, puree the fruit mixture with the orange zest. Add the liqueur, honey, and cinnamon and process until smooth. With a spatula, stir in the walnuts. 4 Spread the fruit and nut mixture in the prepared tart shell. 5 Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 6 Roll out the remaining dough to a 10-inch circle. With a fluted pastry wheel, cut the dough into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Arrange the strips about 1 inch apart across the tart pan. Rotate the tart a quarter- turn and place the remaining strips across the top, forming a lattice pattern. Press the ends of the strips against the sides of the tart to seal. Brush the dough with the egg yolk mixture. 7 Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. 8 Let the tart cool in the pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove the pan rim and let the tart cool completely. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. Store covered with a large inverted bowl at room temperature up to 24 hours. From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

FIG CROSTATA

Steps:

• Blend together flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Add yolks, vanilla, and water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated and dough begins to form large clumps.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all dough together (using a pastry scraper if you have one), then divide dough in half and form each half into a 5- to 6-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Simmer figs, water, orange juice, and brown sugar in a medium saucepan, covered, stirring occasionally, until figs are soft and mixture is reduced to about 2 cups, 15 to 20 minutes. Pulse in a food processor until finely chopped (mixture should not be smooth). Transfer to a large bowl and cool slightly. Stir in butter, eggs, vanilla, zest, and walnuts.
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter springform pan. Roll out 1 portion of dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper into a 12-inch round (dough will be soft; chill or freeze briefly if it becomes difficult to work with). Peel off top sheet of parchment and carefully invert dough into pan. (Dough will tear easily but can be patched together with your fingers.) Press dough onto bottom and 1 inch up side of pan, then trim excess. Chill tart shell until ready to assemble crostata.
• Roll out remaining dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper into a 12-inch round. Peel off top sheet of parchment, then cut dough into 10 (1-inch-wide) strips and slide (still on parchment) onto a tray. Chill until firm, about 10 minutes.
• Spread fig filling in shell. Arrange 5 strips of dough 1 inch apart on filling. Arrange remaining 5 strips 1 inch apart across first strips to form a lattice. Trim edges of strips flush with edge of shell. Sprinkle crostata with sugar.
• Bake until filling is slightly puffed and pastry is pale golden, about 30 minutes. Cool completely, then remove side of pan. Serve crostata with mascarpone.v