DB: You say crostata, I say galette!

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.

The Italians call it crostata, while the French call it galette. Both are terms for a tart that is often baked free-form, straight on a baking sheet. Both crostatas and galettes are also baked in fluted tart pans. And, just to confuse us all, crostatas and galettes can be filled with a number of different fillings, such as jam, cheese, fresh fruit, etc. The two terms are like umbrellas hiding a number of delicious desserts underneath them. I wish I had time to experiment with them all. Alas, I do not, and I am told that "crostata-exploration" is not a reason to quit my day job. Hmmph! In any case, the suggested dough for this dessert was a "pasta frolla," therefore I figure that finished tart would be called a crostata. Here's the lowdown on how I made my crostata.



The dough was quite easy to prepare. It starts like any all butter pie crust: you incorporate ice cold butter into the flour and sugar so as to obtain a rough crumble texture, without allowing the butter to warm up too much.





Then, you form a well in the center of the mixture and add an egg plus an egg yolk (beaten together)





I used a fork to slowly incorporate the eggs with some of the surrounding flour. This is the tool that I am most comfortable with for this step. When I make fresh pasta, the fork is my tool of choice to incorporate a well of eggs into the surrounding flour walls. I use the fork until the floury egg mixture becomes fairly stiff, then I switch to my hands, until the dough can be kneaded, which I also do by hand. Interestingly, I found the dough quite dry initially. I almost reached for some cold water, as I would do with a pie crust. Instead, I opted to continue working the dough with my hand, patiently. I was rewarded for my patience with a beautifully smooth dough, without adding any water.





After chilling, I rolled the dough and filled a tart pan with it. I opted to use a tart pan because I was making a ricotta-cheese?filled crostata, and I felt the filling may be a little too liquidy for a free-form crostata. I let the lined tart pan chill in the fridge while I prepared the filling.





I prepared the filling (recipe source: Good Taste, June 2007) by mashing/whisking together the ingredients. If I had a larger food processor, I would have used that, but I don't.





I then docked the tart shell (not sure if that was necessary, but I wasn't in the mood to risk unsightly air bubbles!). I then spread a couple tablespoons of homemade carrot and rhubarb jam (which actually tastes exactly like and has the same texture as orange marmalade! Recipe from Well Preserved, my favorite jamming/jellying book) on the bottom of the tart shell. Then, I topped with the ricotta filling, which I streaked with dollops of more jam.





Baked the crostata for 55 minutes.... et voilà! Initially, the filling was quite puffed, but with time it settled nicely.







The crostata turned out great. The pasta frolla crust was excellent, like a crisp, thick cookie. I would definitely use that crust recipe again! The filling was sweet and the jam flavor really came through even though I only used a few tablespoons! My only comment would be that I think the ricotta mixture that I made could have used some orange zest (I meant to add some but I forgot!). It's very rare that I make the comment that a little zest is needed, but I think the zest of a good-sized orange would have been a great addition. Also, I think the filling would have benefited from a quick blend in the food processor to give the finished crostata a finer texture, and maybe a pinch of salt. I wonder if I could have used my blender to make the filling? See, this is why I do need to quit my day-job!





And so concludes another successful DB challenge. Visit the Daring Kitchen site to join in on the monthly fun, as a baker or as a cook, for the recipes of the monthly challenges, or to view what the other DBers baked up this month.