Strawberry Crostata

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Enough with the strawberries, right? Sorry folks, it has been a truly outrageous season for strawberries, and I can’t help but buy a full crate of them every week. I’ve debated as to whether it’s possible for me to be sick of strawberries, and the definite answer is that no, it isn’t. I can eat them every day, with every meal.

However, I can only cook so many recipes at a time before I start to lose my steam. My original plan with this week’s crop of berries was to bake up a strawberry pie. However, when I started thinking about making the piecrust and the pie filling on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, I lost momentum. So I made a crostata. A crostata is kind of like a lazy person’s pie, so we got along really well. It’s a simple dough that doesn’t require much kneading or shaping, and the filling is just berries tossed in a sugar and topped with a jam glaze. Seriously easy. And the best part? I prepped and baked this whole thing up in just under 2 hours and still had the rest of my Saturday afternoon to lay by the pool.

Saturday + Sunshine + Pool + Strawberries = one awesome weekend.

Strawberry Crostata

Dough Recipe adapted by Giada De Laurentiis

Print this recipe!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
10 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice water
1 ½ cups chopped strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 cup strawberry jam
1 tablespoon orange flavored liquer (optional)

For the dough: Mix the flour, sugar, and lemon zest, and salt in a food processor. Next add the cubed butter, a few pieces at a time. Pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal, then pulse in the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, until moist clumps form. Gather the dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Once the dough has chilled, remove from the refrigerator and roll out until it reaches roughly 1 foot across. Important note – the dough does not need to look perfect! If it isn’t a full circle or is cracking in places, don’t sweat it. Using a rolling pan, transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a small saucepan, heat the jam and orange liquer until it is runny and easy to spread. In the center of the crostata dough, arrange the strawberries, leaving a 2 inche border. Gently fold the dough over the berries, pleating loosely and pinching to seal any cracks in the dough. (as you can see by my photo it will still turn out fine if you miss a crack) Spread the jam mixture over the exposed berries and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Serve with fresh whipped cream, or all by itself. It tastes amazing either way.

Tagged as: Strawberry