Apple-Cranberry Crostata

When it’s time to serve dessert at the Christmas table, there’s nothing like a festive pie or cake featuring red fruit to make the occasion just as special as it is. This pie, adapted from an Ina Garten recipe, is the showstopper you need at the end of a beautiful holiday meal – even if you wait an hour or two to make the coffee and serve it! Crostatas travel well, so take one to the potluck, too. Like all pies, it’s best the day it’s made, but bake it a day ahead if you must. (Quicken the process by making dough --enough for two pies--ahead and freezing. Just thaw overnight in the fridge and you're ready to roll.)

Equipment

Parchment paper lined half sheet pan or rimmed baking pan

Ingredients

Dough for one crostata – recipe below or use your own or use purchased dough
2 extra-large apples—about one pound, peeled, cored and cut into 2-inch chunks (I like Pink Lady and Granny Smith, but used Gala here with good results.)
1 cup fresh cranberries cut in half or very coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons granulated sugar plus 1 teaspoon to sprinkle on dough before baking
Zest of half a lemon
Pecan streusel topping – recipe below
1 tablespoon milk-to brush on pastry before sprinkling with the teaspoon of sugar and baking

Instructions

DOUGH: MAKE + CHILL (see recipe below): Make the dough as per instructions below (or use your own dough) and chill for an hour or freeze for 15 minutes.
PREHEAT THE OVEN to 425 degrees F and place oven rack at center. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
STIR TOGETHER FRUIT: While the pastry chills, in a large bowl stir together the apples, cranberries, sugar, and lemon zest. Set aside.
MAKE THE PECAN STREUSEL (see recipe below) and set aside.
ROLL OUT DOUGH: Sprinkle the counter or board lightly with flour. Roll out the chilled pastry dough into an 11-inch round, lifting/turning dough and dusting counter again once or twice to keep dough from sticking. Roll the dough up onto the rolling pin (or carefully fold it into fourths) and move the dough to the center of the parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.
SPOON APPLES AND CRANBERRIES INTO PASTRY: Spoon/pour the fruit mixture into the center of the pastry, stopping about 1 ½ inches before the edges. Top evenly with the streusel. Bring up the edges of the dough around the fruit, folding or pleating gently as needed to go around in a circle. You’ll have about a 9 ½-inch crostata (9" after baking). Brush the dough carefully and lightly with the milk and sprinkle only the dough with reserved teaspoon of sugar. (This will help brown the crust.)
BAKE/COOL/SERVE: Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is crispy golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Don’t worry if some of the juices have escaped onto the parchment paper. Remove pan to cooling rack. When it has sat for 30-40 minutes cooling, move the crostata off the paper so that it sits directly on the rack to cool completely as follows: Move the pan off the rack. Using both hands, lift the parchment paper off the pan (keeping the crostata level) and place it back onto the rack with the pie still on it. Carefully slide the crostata off the paper and onto the rack itself while pulling the paper from underneath it. Cool completely or until just warm. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.
Store well-wrapped on the counter for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for a week. If it’s very warm and humid when you are baking, you might want to wrap and leave the pie in the fridge immediately after serving. We never have much crostata leftover, but I would probably share it with neighbors or eat it for breakfast rather than freeze it. The dough, however, freezes very well if you’d like to make a double batch and freeze one. Let it sit overnight in the fridge, wrapped, to thaw before using.

Notes

PECAN STREUSEL:

• ¼ cup all-purpose, unbleached flour

• ⅛ cup EACH: granulated sugar and brown sugar

• ⅛ teaspoon EACH: ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground cardamom

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

• ¼ cup chopped toasted pecans

In a food processor fitted with a steel blade or in a medium bowl with a pastry cutter, place all ingredients except nuts and pulse or cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Stir in the nuts. Remove the blade from the food processor, if using, and with fingers, pinch together the crumbs so they hold together. Set aside until needed.

CROSTATA DOUGH (makes one crostata--doubles easily)

• 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• ¼ pound (1 stick/8 tablespoons) unsalted butter cut into small pieces

• 2 tablespoons ice water.

In a food processor fitted with the knife blade or in a bowl using a pastry cutter, pulse together/mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the pieces of butter and pulse/cut in until mixture is the size of small and large peas. Slowly drizzle in ice water pulsing or stirring until dough begins to come together, adding a drop or two more if needed. Turn out onto floured board, gather dough, pat into a ball, and then pat or roll into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour (or overnight) or freeze 15 minutes. Dough can also be made ahead, wrapped well, frozen, thawed overnight in fridge, and rolled out the next day. Let rest at at room temperature for 15 minutes or so if it’s been frozen/thawed or chilled overnight.

NOTE: This dough recipe is somewhat adapted from the book CUCINA SIMPATICA: ROBUST TRATTORIA COOKING, by Johanne Killeen and George Germon. I think this is the same dough and recipe Ina Garten uses in her apple crostata.