Apple Crostata

In this monthly vlogging series, Stone Soup blogger Celestina Brunetti demonstrates recipes using ingredients featured in the most recent issue of Food & Nutrition Magazine. For October, Celestina shares with us how to make a traditional rustic Italian pie. 

Apple Crostata

Serves 8

Ingredients

For the pastry

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ pound (1 stick) very cold unsalted butter, diced
• 2 tablespoons ice water

For the filling

• 1 cup thinly sliced Granny Smith apple (about 1 large apple)
• ¼ teaspoon grated orange zest
• ½ teaspoon fresh orange juice
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom

To finish the crust

• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Directions

1. For the pastry, place flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add butter and pulse 12 to 15 times, or until butter is the size of peas. Add ice water and pulse until dough starts to form a ball. Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a cohesive ball. Wrap plastic around dough and shape the ball into a disc. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
3. Flour a rolling pin and roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. For the filling, toss apple slices with orange zest, orange juice, cinnamon and cardamom.
5. Arrange the apple slices on the dough: they will need to overlap: leaving a 1 ½-inch border. Gently fold the border over the apples to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle.
6. Dust crust with turbinado sugar.
7. Bake the crostata for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the apples are tender. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Celestina Brunetti

Celestina Brunetti, RDN, LD, is a chef and nutritionist. She has worked with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension developing culinary demonstration videos for its Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, as well as written curriculum for disease-specific culinary nutrition classes for the Las Vegas community. Connect with Celestina on her website, Wellness Cucina, and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.