Do you have too many cherry tomatoes on the vine? You’ve got to try this recipe I’ve renamed Summer Harvest Crostata! I adapted an Ina Garten recipe for Tomato and Goat Cheese Crostada from her book Modern Comfort Food given to me as a birthday gift from my sister-in-law, Ellen. She raved about it last summer of family ZOOM time, but sadly, my tomatoes were not producing. This summer, my Sun Gold tomatoes are producing abundantly!. Therefore, it seems only fitting that I finally put this recipe to use with some that I have harvested. Let me tell you, this makes a perfect summer dinner for two or even a lunch with friends with a light salad on the side.
What is a Crostata?
A free-form rustic pastry with hand-folded edges is referred to as a crostata (Italian) and sometimes referred to as a galette(French). There are sweet and savory versions. For sweet, it’s a quick version of a pie with less hassle. Savory versions, like this one, have veggies, cheeses and herbs. The process, if streamlined, can seem minor rather than a major effort. Making the dough and prepping the leeks are all on you, but the goat cheese is packaged and mother nature took care of the herbs and tomatoes for you! Believe me, this will become summer favorite as well as off season. Just pick up a variety pack of colorful tomatoes from the grocery store if your growing season has come to an end.
Sun Gold Tomatoes:
Again, owing credit to Ellen, she was successful in growing this indeterminate variety last year. Considering my lack of success the previous summer, I thought I’d give them a try. To my delight, and careful tending to their growth from seed, I triumphed! I am forever grateful! I’m not going run out of these anytime soon.
For this recipe, I used about a half pound. They were rinsed off, covered with a towel and gently rolled to dry.
Place the tomatoes on a plate, drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with some sea salt and ground black pepper. Roll around to coat.
The Flaky Crust:
My favorite way to prep any crust is to grate the COLD/FROZEN butter. in parts, using a box grater over the flour mixture. Toss to coat the butter with the flour and repeat the process until all butter is grated.
Then, rub the butter into the flour with your fingers. Drizzle the ICE water over the mixture; stir with a wooden spoon until it starts to come together
Place dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a disc shape. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Towards the end of the chill time, PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 450F. In the meantime, start with the next step.
Prepping the Leeks:
To be honest, I’ve never cooked leeks before, so I had to research the task. (If you are proficient in this task, scroll on.) Leeks are a member of the onion family. Their flavor is sweet and mild.
Cut off the root ends.
Cut where you see the dark green leaves intersect the light green stem. I’m sure you see the dirt under the knife. They tend to have dirt between those leaves. Therefore, it’s always necessary to rinse these, once cut, with cool water. A salad spinner works great for cleaning them!
Split in half lengthwise, then slice into half moon sections. Now, rinse them off in a colander with cool water or use a salad spinner. Blot dry with paper towels if using the colander method. Measure out about 4 cups.
Cooking the Leeks:
Melt the butter in a pan over MEDIUM heat. Add the leeks, salt, pepper and thyme leaves. Cook them until tender, 5-7 minutes. Remove the pan from the stovetop to stop the cooking; place leeks in a dish while you roll out the dough. Overcooking can make them a little slimy amd mushy. You can see I had a little oops moment below, but also show you a previous version where they were perfect. The credit goes to my sous chef, Jim.
These turned out a little golden than I anticipated, but still usuable. The assembly portion below shows a pic of my first(better) version.
Rolling out the Dough!
With everything prepped and the oven preheated, roll out the dough! Take the chilled dough out of the fridge and roll out to and 11″ diameter on a lightly floured surface.
Lightly flour the top of the dough and roll up over a rolling pin, flouring as needed to prevent sticking or fold carefully into quarters.
Roll or fold out dough onto a sheet of parchment paper laying on top of a rimmed baking sheet pan.(*Note: You can brush the crust with an egg white beaten until frothy. This helps prevent a soggy crust. I often do this step with pies and it is beneficial to the end result. However, I did not complete that step with this crostata. It was an afterthought which I will try next time to see if it has any notable affect and report back to you!)
Assembly Time!
Spread the sauteed leeks evenly onto the dough leaving 1-1/2″ border. This would mean the leeks would be in an 8″ circle formation.(*Note: This was the first version of leeks.)
Next, distribute the crumbled goat cheese over the top.(Note: You can see the second version of cooked leeks here, a little more golden in color….oops!)
Then, place the tomatoes on top of the goat cheese. If you you prefer less tomatoes, adjust as necessary.
Fold/ crimp the edges of the crust inward and over the crostata contents. Finally, brush the crust with an egg wash from one beaten egg YOLK with either heavy cream, milk or water.
Time to bake!
Immediately place into the 450F preheated oven. My crostata sat on the upper middle rack for 25 minutes, but would not recommend more than 30. Ovens vary so be watchful.
Let it rest for about 5 minutes before slicing. The smell is incredible and I know you are anxious to try it, but be patient! To help pass the time, rip up some fresh basil leaves and place them on top.
Time for a savory slice!
The late afternoon sun filters its warm light on this slice of Summer Harvest Crostata awaiting its first taste.
Heavenly…..
Summer Harvest Crostata
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 c all-purpose flour
- 1/4 t Kosher salt
- 1/2 c COLD butter (1 stick)
- 3 T ICE water
Leeks
- 4 c leeks, half moon cut dark green leaves and roots cut off of about 2 leeks- slice in half lengthwise and cut- RINSE and pat dry
- 4 T butter
- 1/2 t Kosher salt
- 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
- 2 t fresh thyme leaves
Tomatoes
- 1/2 pound cherry type tomatoes
- extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Other Ingredients
- 4 oz crumbled goat cheese
- fresh basil leaves-torn or chiffonade to place on crostata AFTER baking
Egg Wash
- 1 egg yolk, reserve egg white
- pinch of Kosher salt
- 1 T heavy cream( can sub milk or water)
Instructions
Crust
- Whisk together the flour and salt.
- Grate 1/4 of the stick of butter over the flour at a time. Toss it with the flour and repeat this process until the whole stick is used.
- Rub the flour into the butter with your fingers, cut it in with a pastry blender, or use a food processor.
- Drizzle the ICE water over the flour/butter mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixture begins to come together.
- Place mixture onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a disc shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Tomatoes
- Rinse off tomatoes and place onto a clean dish towel. Fold towel over tomatoes and gently roll in a circular motion to dry them off.
- Place tomatoes on a plate. Drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. Grind some black pepper over them and stir/roll around to coat. Set aside.
Leeks
- Cut off the section contaning dark green leaves as well as the root ends.
- Slice them in half lengthwise, then place cut sides down. Slice again into half moon sections. Place in a bowl of cool water and swish around to remove any dirt residue or place in a colander and rinse with the spray hose. A salad spinner would be a great way to rinse them off too, if you have one. Pat them dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture before cooking.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over MEDIUM heat.
- Add in the 4 cups of sliced leeks along with the salt, pepper and thyme leaves. Saute, stirring often, for about 7-8 minutes until softened. Remove from the stove and to a dish to stop them from cooking further. Set aside.
Crust Part 2
- About 15 minutes before you remove pie crust dough from fridge, PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 45O°F. On a floured surface, roll COLD dough into an 11" diameter. Dust top surface with a little flour and either roll dough up onto the floured rolling pin or fold gently into quarter sections to remove from rolling surface.
- Center dough onto the parchment paper. Place parchment paper onto an upside-down rimmed baking sheet.
- Whisk reserved egg white ( from egg used in egg wash) until frothy. Brush onto pie crust BEFORE adding toppings. ~ optional step
Layering Toppings
- Spread cooked leeks evenly onto crust leaving a 1-1/2" border. This would make the leeks into an 8" circle. Yeah math!
- Crumble the goat cheese over the leeks followed by the tomatoes.
- Fold/crimp the edges of the crust up and slightly over the filling.
- Brush edges of crust with egg wash.
- Bake on upper middle rack at 450°F for 25-30 minutes.
- Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing. Top with ripped basil leaves or chiffonade while cooling.
- Cut into slices to serve. Leftovers may be refrigerated and reheated. I used my air fryer/toast settings.
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