Spring my favorite season for cooking! It's like the vegetable markets come alive again with an abundance of produce that we've been missing all season. Fresh berries, citrus, greens, flowers, everything is super vibrant, fresh (and cheap!) I recently hit the jackpot at my local farmer's market, scoring strawberries for 99 cents a pound! So, I bought 4 pounds and brought them to with the intention to make something extra delish. This strawberry crostata hits the spot!
What's a crostata, you ask? Essentially, it's the Italian name for a rustic, free-form pie, where the dough edges are folded up around the filling. It's also known as a galette in French. So, whether you call it a crostata or galette, I call it delish! Full of juicy, fresh berries lightly tossed with sugar, lemon and cornstarch, this strawberry crostata is the perfect quick dessert for a weeknight, or a dinner party. And it's impossible to mess up, which is always a good thing for the non-bakers like myself.
This recipe is so versatile, you can literally make it with any berries, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, plums, and more. Really, the possibilities are endless. I've done it with blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries, all with great success. You can also use frozen berries or fruit, just make sure to thaw and drain them before assembling this dish, so it doesn't come out soupy. Also, you can definitely substitute a ready to use store-bought pie crust instead of the homemade pie crust I used, which makes this crostata even easier to put together!
1/2 recipe of my Perfect Pie Crust (or 1 store-bought pie crust)
1 pound of strawberries (about 3 cups)
2-3 tablespoons of granulated sugar (use more if needed, depending on the sweetness of the berries)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and slice your strawberries, and toss them into a bowl.
Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the sliced strawberries, and stir. Taste them. If they need more sugar, add another tablespoon.
Add the cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
Stir to dissolve the cornstarch.
Roll out the pie crust into a 12-13″ diameter. It should be about 1/4″ thick, at the minimum. You can make it slightly thinner, if desired. Place the pie crust onto a large baking sheet, lined with parchment.
Dump the strawberries into the center of the dough circle.
Pile them into the middle of the dough, leaving about a 1½" border all the way around the edge.
Gently fold the border around the strawberries to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle.
Bake the crostata at 400 degrees F for 30-40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and crisp. Allow the crostata to cool for 15 minutes before slicing. This will prevent the juices from running everywhere.
Serve warm, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, or vanilla ice cream, if desired.