Tommaso’s Sinful Delights

Dough
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
14 tablespoons cold butter, diced
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons cold water

Filling
6 cups apples, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP milk
1 tsp raw sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and salt until combined. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Add the egg and pulse 2 times. (If the dough is very dry add up to a tablespoon more of cold water.) Remove the dough and form into a disk.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour. 

Divide dough in half.  Roll out the crust.  Place bottom crust in a deep pie dish. 

Mix apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl.  Pour on top of bottom crust in the pie dish.  Dot apples with butter.  Place the top layer of the crust, letting it overhang.  Pinch the crust together and seal with a fork.  Poke holes in the top of the crust with a sharp knife to release steam.  Brush the top of the crust with milk and sprinkle raw sugar on top.  Place in oven and bake for 40 minutes.

Let pie cool completely before slicing.

I had a craving for pears and almonds, so I decided to put them together in a crostata.  The result was a delicious, flaky pastry that’s to die for. 

Pear Almond Crostata with Apricot Glaze

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 TBSP light brown sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
10 TBSP cold butter
3 TBSP ice cold water
1/4 cup almond paste*
2 Bosc pears peeled, halved, cored and cut lengthwise into slices*
3 TBSP apricot preserves
1 tsp raw sugar

Combine flour, brown sugar, lemon zest and salt in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until combined.  Add cold butter and pulse until coarse meal is formed.  Slowly add water 1 TBSP at a time, pulsing until dough forms into a ball.  Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Roll the dough out on parchment paper (about 12″ diameter.)  Transfer dough to a baking sheet.  Spread almond paste on top of the dough leaving a 2″ space on the edge.  Fan the pear slices in a circle covering the layer of the almond paste with one slice in the center.  Gently fold the edges of the pastry crust inward so that it comes to the edge of the pears, but not covering them.    Microwave the apricot preserves for 15 seconds to soften.  Using a pastry brush, gently coat the pears and the edges of the crust with the preserves.  Sprinkle raw sugar on the edges of the crust.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.  When finished, allow to cool on the baking sheet for 1o minutes.  Transfer crostata to a cooking rack.  Serve warm.

*Notes:

-If almond paste is too hard to spread, microwave it for 20 seconds to soften.
-Prepare pears just before adding on top of crostata so they don’t turn brown.