Lidia Bastianich’s Free-Form Stone Fruit Tart (GF)

Watching a video by cookbook author and New York City restauranteur Lidia Bastianich feels like sitting in your Italian nonna's kitchen as she welcomes you in and teaches you how to cook easy, everyday food. Lidia likes to keep things simple and says no problem if you don't have an ingredient - just use what you have on hand.

I decided to try her Plum Galette. I had a few plums, a couple of strawberries and a peach. I wanted to try gluten-free flour and almost nailed it.

I let the dough sit in the fridge overnight. It rolled out perfectly on a lightly-floured silpat pad, but after spending the time to make the filling and arranging it in the center of the tart, the edges of the dough had softened and were stuck to the pad. I should have used the recommended parchment paper. I slid a pastry scraper  under the dough to fold it around the filling as best I could which turned out to be quite a work of art! It leaked a little and I accidentally left in a peach pit, but I'd like to think, no worries - Lidia would say it came out "just fine."

Check out Tutto Lidia videos here, or follow her on Instagram at @lidiabastianich to get notified when she goes live. The video for this tart is from the Today show here.

Lidia in her Kitchen
Image from People.com

My Paleo Marin: 3 Persimmons*

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour, preferably Cup4Cup All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
6 tablespoons cold water

Filling and Topping:

1 1/2 pounds stone fruit, such as plums, peaches and/or apricots, pitted and cut into sixths
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
5 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 tablespoons apricot jam
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs, preferably Ians Gluten Free Panko Breadcrumbs
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Optional: There's a reason it's called a "tart;" don't hesitate to add a dollop of ice cream.

Directions:

For the dough:

1. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Pulse just to combine ingredients. Drop in the butter in pieces and pulse until the mixture is lumpy. With the processor running, add the 6 tablespoons of water and process just until the dough comes together in a lump. Add a little more flour if it is too wet, or a little more water if it is too dry. Scrape the dough into a ball and put on a floured work surface. Knead the dough a few times and flatten it into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator. Leave for 1 hour to up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375º F.

For the filling and topping:

1. In a large bowl, toss the fruit with the grated lemon zest and juice, 2 1/2 tablespoons of the sugar, the jam and the butter chunks. Taste for lemon and sugar. Add more as preferred.

2. In a small bowl combine the panko, cinnamon and remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar.

To assemble the tart:

1. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for about 1 hour.

2. Lightly flour a piece of parchment paper and place the dough in the center. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a rough circle about 14" to 15" in diameter. Cut the dough into a circle about 12" to 13" in diameter. Slide the dough and the parchment paper onto a baking sheet.

3. Sprinkle all but 1 tablespoon of the panko mix into the middle of the dough making about an 8" diameter circle. Add the fruit mixture (without the juice) to the center of the tart. Arrange the fruit in a concentric circle or spread it out freeform. Fold up the sides to form a crust of about 2" to 3". Sprinkle the exposed fruit with the remaining crumb mixture.

4. Begin baking the tart on the bottom rack of the preheated oven. Bake about 30 to 40 minutes. Move the baking sheet to the middle rack and finish baking for about 10 - 15 more minutes. The crust should be brown and the fruit mixture bubbly - 50 minutes to one hour total.

5. Let the tart cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack. Slide the tart and parchment paper onto the rack to cool a bit more. While still warm, slide the tart using a spatula onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature. Top with a scoop of ice cream if desired.

Store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Best when leftovers are reheated at 325º F for about 10 minutes.

#gluenfree #tart #Italian #Italy #lidiabastianich #fruit #stonefruit #plums #crostata #dessert #summer

Recipe adapted from Lidia Bastianich's Easy Free-Form Plum Tart here.

*My Paleo Marin Rating between 1-5 Persimmons

I try out these recipes so you don't have to (and modify them for Paleo where possible). The rating will reflect my opinion of the final result in terms of taste, ease of preparation, nutrition, and sometimes, cost.