Crostata with Lemon Curd and Fresh Blackberries
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I love crostatas. They’re a perfect metaphor for the kind of baker I am. Rustic, free-form, versatile, not overly fussy. So, as I pondered what to do with these beautiful organic blackberries that found their way home from the store with me, a crostata was an instinctive choice.
Lemon and blackberries are super good friends, so my mind was sent pondering how to bring those 3 together for a little lemon crostata blackberry meeting. You don’t see many lemon crostatas, and I think it’s mostly because the heat that it takes to cook your pastry does not do nice things to your lemon curd.
Undaunted, I forged ahead in my quest to bring lemon and crostata together once and for all. In an unusual moment of enlightenment, the solution appeared rather simply actually… only use part of the curd before baking and save most of it to be applied after the crostata comes out of the oven. So this is how to do it....
Make your favorite pie crust, roll it out to roughly 10” round (or any size really), spread only a thin layer of your lemon curd on the dough (a little thicker where you will be folding the pastry over it), sprinkle the folded edges of the pastry with a little sugar and bake (I cooked it on my baking stone).
After it has cooled a little, spread the rest of your lemon curd over the center and dot prettily with your fresh blackberries. Slice and eat.
Oh, my. This was everything I had hoped it would be...creamy lemon curd, flaky pie crust, juicy blackberries. I had some crème fraiche waiting to scoop onto the top, but totally forgot it. Whipped cream would also be nice, but it didn’t need it.
Come Sunday morning, though, we think a little crostata would be just the thing with our coffee, but as pastry will do, it was sadly a little soft from sitting through the night. Truth be told, I don’t really mind soggy pastry covered in lemon curd for breakfast, but I thought our crostata deserved more than that, so I heated up the grill pan and placed the rest of our crostata upon it. Within a few minutes, we were treated to a perfectly crisp crostata, the lemon curd having warmed just a little, re-creating that just-from-the-oven lusciousness you might crave on a Sunday morning. We like that.
CROSTATA WITH LEMON CURD AND FRESH BLACKBERRIES
1 9" pie crust (homemade or store bought)
lemon curd (recipe below)
4-6 oz fresh blackberries (blueberries would work nicely too)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (I cooked my crostata on a baking stone which required a longer preheat to get the stone hot, but it made it a nice crisp crust)
Roll your pastry to about a 10-inch round. Transfer to a parchment-covered baking sheet or pizza paddle. Spread a thin layer of lemon curd over the dough, putting a thicker layer around the edge where the dough will be folded. Fold about 2 to 3 inches of dough over the curd, making little pleats where necessary. Sprinkle the folded edge with sugar. Cut off the excess parchment paper.
Place in preheated oven (if using a baking stone, slide your crostata onto the stone) and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the pastry is nicely browned.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Spread the remaining lemon curd over the middle of the crostata and top with your berries. Slice and eat while still slightly warm.
Lemon Curd
YIELD 1 1/2 cups
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1⁄2 cup fresh lemon juice (I sometimes add another ¼ cup for extra lemony-ness)
1⁄2 cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoon lemon rind, grated
DIRECTIONS
In a heavy, medium saucepan whisk the eggs and egg yolks until well blended and then add the sugar and lemon juice and stir to combine. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8-10 minutes or until the mixture is fairly thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Remove from heat and immediately pour through a sieve or strainer to catch any egg bits. This also creates a smooth, curd texture.
Stir in the cold butter pieces and once the butter has melted, add the grated zest and stir to combine.
Transfer to a tightly covered storage container. At this point you can refrigerate the curd (it will last for 2-3 weeks) or you can freeze it for much longer.
