Berry Crostata

I’ve seen these types of recipes called crostatas (or crostadas) and galettes and I was wondering which is right.  According to wikipedia, a crostata is a free-form pie Italian in origin while a galette is French in origin and is more like a free form thin pancake with a savory filling.  I guess you can choose which name you like better and since crostata is a free form pie, I’ll go with that.

I didn’t follow a recipe for this crostata.  I had a bunch of berries in my refrigerator that had to be used up and I didn’t really feel like doing anything complicated so I decided to do a crostata, as low in sugar as possible.  It turned out great!

Of course you can use whatever ripe, summer fruits you like but if using berries, when you clean the berries, make sure you dry them off good before putting them in the pie because you don’t want too much juice overflowing the sides of your crostata.

Berry Crostata

1 unbaked pie crust, homemade or store bought
1 pint strawberries, cleaned and sliced
1 pint blueberries, cleaned
1/4 cup Splenda blend or 1/2 cup sugar (more or less depending on how sweet your fruit is)
1 tbsp flour
small amount of milk to brush on sides of crust
small amount of turbinado sugar to sprinkle over crust

Preheat oven to 425º.

Cover a pizza tin with parchment paper and place pie crust on the parchment.

In a bowl, mix the berries, Splenda blend and flour together gently. Pour berry mixture into the middle of the pie crust, leaving a good 1-2 inch edge on the pie crust for folding.

Fold the edges of the pie crust over the berries.

Brush milk on the edges of the crostata and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the milk.

Bake at 425º for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350º and continue baking for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Makes 6 servings.

Happy Cooking!