Zucchini & Ricotta Crostata

You say potato, I say patahto – you say….., well you know how it goes.  So when it comes to the French gallete or the Italian crostata the only thing you need to remember is, this is really yummy.  I ended up calling it a Zucchini & Ricotta Crostata because of the herbs I added seemed more Italian than French to me, but don’t send me mean comments, just change the name if you want.  Basically we are talking about a free-form pie.

I have been reading about some really talented blogger chefs that I follow and they have been having some bad results with recipes they have tried from other sites.  They did not identify the person/blogger, but  they did express they were pretty upset.  I too have been having the same issue.  I am not a chef, just someone obsessed with food, so I thought it was just me.  I did not think chefs would have this problem, but turns out they say it is a bad recipe; so I am going with that. Whew, I thought I was losing it.  After you have a couple failures in a row it makes you doubt yourself.  But I am back in business now.

I found a pie dough recipe in a Saveur magazine many years ago.  I use it for both sweet and savory.  I have tweaked it a little over the years, but it has never failed me yet.  I did add a fourth cup of flour, and I added a tablespoon of lemon juice because somewhere in the back of my mind I remember reading or being told that the acid tenderizes the dough.  I have learned to rest the dough even though the recipe does not indicate this needed to be done.  What is up with that?  Why did they not say or did they think I already knew.  Well I need details people.

*My notes – tart, pie dough, and scones – always use cold ingredient.  Let the dough rest at least a half hour before you roll it out.  Unlike bread, cake or cupcakes always use room temperature ingredients.  I think the reason that I could add as much as a quarter cup of flour to the crust recipe is because I use a minimal amount of flour on the parchment and plastic wrap instead of rolling it out the traditional way that lays down quiet a bit of flour to roll out the dough.

You do not have to have a food processor to make this, but it sure helps.  I also used a dark metal sheet pan because it browns better than the light metal.  I use light metal for cakes, cookies or scones.

** Note to self – Check your photos before you cut into your masterpiece.  Sometimes a tart should be turned a few degrees for its glamour shot.   but I am  wobbly struggling with a learning curve.  You probably already knew that huh?

So thank you Saveur, thank you to that person that told me to use lemon juice to pie dough.  As soon as I remember who you are I will give you credit.  I think it was my MIL.

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