Individual Strawberry Rhubarb Crostatas

Its 95 degrees today, and my husband is working late... and ordering Chinese into his office so I'm off the hook for dinner. The kids and I had sandwiches. Problem is I'm craving pie... but not a whole pie, and I'm feeling a little lazy and don't feel like making anything pretty. I'm kinda of a perfectionist with my pie crusts... it ends up being an ordeal. So why not a crostata?! I have strawberries I have rhubarb... So I'll make smaller ones... I can give them away after I have one serving! Oh and did I mention its NINETY FIVE! When a pregnant girl has her cravings all common sense goes out the window... yeah lets run the oven at 400... guess my AC will have to work some overtime tonight!

I'm a little behind the eight ball with strawberries and rhubarb recipes... BUT if you have your overstock berries and rhubarb in the freezer... pull them out for this recipe! Super easy, rustic, and scrumptious!

For the dough... this is my favorite crostata (rustic or free form tart) dough. Courtesy of Food & Wine magazine's Thanksgiving 2010. They had a "Free form Apple Tart" that I make all the time with some minor adjustments (I add toasted walnuts or pecans as well as a sh** ton of caramel!) The crust is easy, made with lots of butter, AND you can use your kitchen aid instead of a food processor! Which mine is MIA for a very long time now... I need to break down and go buy a new Cuisinart. So many recipes require them these days!



Crust/Dough
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/free-form-apple-tart
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp white sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt ( I just table salt)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
About 1/2 cup ice water

Directions:
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the flour with 1 teaspoon of the sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Butter Butter Butter Butter... I love it!

Add the butter and mix at low speed until it is the size of small peas, 30 seconds. With the machine on, gradually add 1/4 cup of the ice water. Add as much of the remaining ice water as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is just evenly moistened (it shouldn't mass on the paddle).

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead 2 or 3 times, just until it comes together.
Pat the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour or overnight.

Strawberry Rhubarb Filling
Ingredients:
4 cups chopped rhubarb
2 cups strawberries
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
The juice of half a lemon
1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl toss all of the ingredients together.

Divide dough into 6 portions and roll each out into a rough circle.

On a parchment lined cookie sheet move crust circles carefully over filling with the fruit leave a 1/2 boarder around the edges. Carefully fold and pinch edges up around the filling.

Brush with beaten egg wash (just beat an egg and brush on with a pastry brush)

Dust with coarse sugar... if you don't have it which I happen to not today use table sugar!

Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes till crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

They should all be slightly different looking not one should be perfect.... that's the point!

 

Only Problem... no ice cream or heavy cream to make whipped cream. Oh well it will still be AWESOME!