Fresh Fig and Almond Crostata

This was an easy and straight-forward recipe.  Nothing very tricky about it, although I always struggle with butter pastry.  (It doesn't help when one leaves it in the refrigerator too long and then attempts to roll it out straight away.  Patience is not one of my virtues.)  I replaced half the flour with whole wheat pastry flour, and instead of mascarpone cheese I used a combination of cream cheese, Greek yogurt and heavy cream.  Since it was being mixed in with other ingredients and layered with even more, I'm sure that change didn't make any difference and now I don't have to figure out how to use up the rest of the container.  😎  Here's what I used:

 

1¹/₂ 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 lemon, zested
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
10 tablespoons (1¹/4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons ice water
3¹/₂ ounces almond paste, at room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup combined cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons honey
6 large or 12 small fresh figs, sliced, stems removed or 20 dried figs, reconstituted*
1/4 cup apricot jam

Combine the flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, lemon zest, and salt in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until blended. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. With the machine running, gradually add the water until moist clumps form. Turn the mixture out onto a work surface and form into a ball. Flatten the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap; chill for 1 hour.

In a clean food processor bowl, combine remaining sugar, almond paste, mascarpone cheese (or alternative), vanilla extract, and honey. Blend until smooth. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

The filling seems like a lot

 

On a large sheet of parchment paper, roll out the dough into an 11-inch circle. Transfer the dough to a large, heavy baking sheet. Spread the almond filling over the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. 

 

 

 

Spreading on the apricot jam.

 

 

Arrange the figs on top of the almond filling, then spoon the jam over the figs. 

 

 

 

All tucked in and ready.

 

 

Fold the dough border over the filling to form an 8-inch round, pleating the crust loosely and pinching to seal any cracks in the dough.  

 

 

 

 

 

Bake the tart until the crust is golden, about 40 minutes. Place the baking sheet on a rack to cool for 10 minutes, then slide a metal spatula under the crust to free the tart from the parchment. Transfer the tart to a platter and serve.

*To reconstitute dried figs, simmer in water for 5 minutes. Let the mixture cool completely. Strain before using.

I wish I'd had the presence of mind to buy fresh figs at Farmer's Market -- they would have been perfectly ripe and sweet!  But these came from the grocery store.  Far too much pale flesh.  However, other comments in the recipe state you really have to use fresh figs in this, that reconstituted dried ones simply don't work very well.  And it's fig season!

I did not use parchment paper, and had no trouble getting the crostata off the lightly greased baking sheet.  However, I do wish I had used an air-bake pan.  I should have thought of that, as anything with a high fat content over-browns on the bottom in my oven unless I do.  

Conclusion:  This was delicious, though very rich and fairly sweet.  It would go best with some vanilla ice cream.  It was easy to put together -- with my substitutions, the only thing I had to buy was the figs.  I would add a bit more salt, perhaps another 1/4 teaspoon, as I think salt helps to balance the richness.

Recipe:  Fig and Almond Tart via Giada De Laurentiis at the Food Network