Have you made a crostata before? It’s the Italian version of the French galette. Crostatas and galettes are actually the exact same thing: a free-form fruit pie cooked on a baking sheet instead of in a pie or tart pan. I called this one a crostata though, because in my head galettes are fancy, where you layer the fruit in concentric circles and use apricot glazes and all that fussy-business, and crostatas are rustic (read: uglier) and easier. Anyway, crostatas are awesome. All the benefits of a pie, without all the fussiness of crimping and topping. Plus they cook faster (this one is done in 35 minutes!) and the outside is crisper too! The short cooking time is great for summer berries, which don’t need to be cooked all that much anyway, so I wanted to try it out for this months blackberry pie. This crust was inspired by the amazing tart crust from Melissa Clark’s gorgeous tomato crostata combined with my favorite gluten free crust dough from Joy the Baker. They worked beautifully together and the dough was supple and easy to roll out (it pays to add an egg to gluten free pie doughs!). The cornmeal isn’t really discernible but does give the crust a bit of a pleasant crackly-ness. The blackberries though! I used 4 cups of blackberries from the farmers market, and they were super tart. I sprinkled a quarter cup of sugar on top of them and thought, man, that looks like a lot of sugar! I didn’t want the filling to be overly sweet, so I stopped there. It was a mistake! The berries were still crazy crazy sour. Next time I’ll add a full half cup of sugar (that’s what I’m writing in the recipe below) and then taste and add even more if needed. Sour or no, it was still warm and rich and fruity, and that’s good enough for me!
Blackberry Crostata with Cornmeal Crust
- 1 cup (125 grams) gluten free all purpose flour blend
- 1/2 cup (75 grams) fine cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 10 tablespoons earth balance or butter, chilled and cubed
- 1/4 cup full-fat coconut milk, shaken and chilled
- squeeze of lemon (about 1/2 teaspoon)
- 1 egg
- 4 cups fresh blackberries
- 1/2 cup sugar (or more as needed)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- zest of one lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- pinch of salt
- egg wash (one beaten egg mixed with one tablespoon water)
- turbinado sugar, for sprinkling on top
arielle clementine 