Strawberry Crostata

Nothing says summer more than a visit from Foxie Roxie. This week she had a public service announcement hoping to slow traffic down. 

Strawberry Crostata

A perfect early summer treat

Cook's Notes: What’s a crostata, you ask? Essentially, it’s the Italian name for a rustic, free-form pie, where the dough edges are folded up around the filling. It’s also known as a galette in French. So, whether you call it a crostata or galette, it's delicious full of juicy, fresh berries lightly tossed with sugar, lemon, and cornstarch. A strawberry crostata is the perfect quick dessert for a weeknight or a dinner party. 

Recipe makes 4-6 servings.

This recipe is so versatile, you can literally make it with any berries, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, plums, and more. Really, the possibilities are endless. You can also use frozen berries or fruit but just a word of caution. Make sure to thaw and drain berries before assembling this dish, so it doesn’t come out soupy. Also, you can definitely substitute a ready-to-use store-bought pie crust instead of a homemade pie crust. 

Baking Tip: A refrigerated pie crust will take less baking time as the crust is thinner rolled out when using a homemade pie crust. 

Strawberry Crostata
Ingredients

• 1 homemade or store-bought pie crust
• 1 lb strawberries
• 2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar or more if your berries aren't super sweet
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• Milk wash 
• Sugar and cinnamon mix

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
• Wash, dry, and dice your strawberries, and place them into a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the sliced strawberries, and stir. Taste them. If they need more sugar, add another tablespoon. Add the cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla extract to the strawberries. Stir to dissolve the cornstarch.
• Roll out the pie crust into a 12-13″ diameter. It should be about 1/4″ thick, at the minimum. I used a frying pan cover for tracing my circle.
• Roll out crust on 2 sheets of floured wax paper. Then flip the crust and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  
  
• Dump the strawberries into the center of the dough circle. leaving about a 1½” border all the way around the edge. Gently fold the border around the strawberries to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle. Make sure the corners are pinched closed so the filling does not run out while baking. 
  
• Brush dough with milk and sprinkle dough with cinnamon and sugar mixture. 
• Bake the crostata at 400 degrees 30 minutes or 25 minutes if the crust is real thin. The crust should be golden brown and crisp. Allow the crostata to cool for 15 minutes before slicing making sure the filling is set. Use a serrated knife to cut. 
• Serve warm, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, or vanilla ice cream, if desired.