A Sweet Treat

One of the easiest and tastiest desserts I've been making lately is this crostata. What's not to love about a dessert that possesses all of the comfort of apple pie with none of the fuss?
Apple-Blackberry Crostata

Ingredients:
1 pie crust (make your own if you dare, but Trader Joe's makes divine frozen pastry)
3 apples (pink lady or ambrosia are my pics--I leave the skin on for a nice pink color when baking), cut into bite-size chunks
1 cup of another fruit of your choice (blackberries, blueberries or pears work well)
1/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons of cold butter diced
1 tablespoon of cornstarch (especially if you use berries)
2 teaspoons of cinnamon (more to taste)
1 teaspoon of freshly grated orange zest

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Roll out thawed pie crust. Using your rolling pin, place on a parchment or silpat lined baking pan with a lip (this can bubble!).
3. Combine prepared fruit with all other remaining ingredients. Make sure the fruit it well coated with flour mixture.
4. Place the fruit in a mound in the middle of the crust. Leave at least a two inch border of crust. Then, fold the crust up around the edges. The crostata will look very rustic. Sprinkle the crust with sugar.
5. Bake for 25 minutes.
6. Cool for 10-15 minutes and serve in wedges with vanilla ice cream.

Tip: this is a fabulous fall recipe. Use apples, pears and toss in a handful of dried cranberries.

Recipe and photo by moi.