Ingredients (Serves 10-12)

For pasta frolla

• 1/3 cup / 64 g / 2 1/4 oz. ultrafine sugar or 1/2 cup powdered sugar (see Note 1)
• 60 g teff flour
• 60 g whole-grain farro or spelt flour
• 30 g almond flour, or almond meal
• 30 g millet flour
• A pinch of salt
• 5 tablespoons / 70 g / 2 1/2 oz. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg (possibly from pastured poultry), lightly whisked to blend yolk and white
• 1/2 teaspoon / 2.5 ml vanilla extract of good quality
• Brown rice flour, as needed for making and rolling the dough

For the filling

• 1 cup / 240 ml peach preserves, possibly homemade (see Note 2)
• 450 g / 1 lb ripe peaches, preferably organic (see Note 3)

Instructions

Note 1: Ultrafine or superfine sugar is also referred to as baker’s sugar. If you cannot find it, you can make your own by putting some regular granulated sugar in a food processor or blender and letting it run until the sugar is finely ground.

Note 2: I use my homemade low-sugar peach preserves. I recommend you choose a good quality product, made with mostly fruit (rather than sugar).

Note 3: This is a bit more than you need, but it is better to have some leftover slices than not enough. You can always have a peach snack.

How to make the pasta frolla

Put sugar, flours (2nd through 5th ingredient above) and salt in the bowl of the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.

Add butter and pulse a few times until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.

Empty food processor’s bowl onto your work surface.

[If you don’t have a food processor: Whisk together sugar, flours (2nd through 5th ingredient above) and salt in a bowl. Rub or cut the butter into the sugar and flour mixture until it has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.]

Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten egg and vanilla extract into it.

Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, then use your fingertips.

Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball. Use some brown rice flour as needed to flour your hands to prevent excessive sticking.

Shape the dough into a flat disk 1 inch / 2.5 cm thick and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. I usually make it the evening before and refrigerate it overnight.

How to prepare the bottom layer of the crostata

To bake the crostata, I recommend using a 9 or 9 1/2-inch / 23-24 cm fluted round tart pan with removable bottom, about 1-inch / 2.5 cm high.

Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge and unwrap it. I recommend you roll the dough on a piece of parchment paper or the plastic film in which it was wrapped, as it is quite crumbly.

Lightly dust with brown rice flour the top of the dough and the surface on which you are rolling it. Keep some flour handy to lightly dust the dough as you go along.

If the dough is very firm, start by pressing the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, moving the rolling pin by a pin’s width each time; turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat; when it softens, start rolling gently.

Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch / 3 mm thick. If you used parchment paper or plastic wrap as rolling surface, flip the dough over the tart pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the wrap.

Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan and use it, as necessary, where you find that you came up short. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around. You will have only a small amount of dough left over, which you can use to make a thicker edge or a couple of cookies (frollini).

Prick the shell with a fork in several places. Refrigerate while you prepare the peaches and the oven.

Wait 15 minutes or so, then preheat the oven to 350 F / 177 C.

How to fill and bake the crostata

Rinse well the peaches, quarter them, remove the stone, then cut each quarter into slices 1/4 inch / 6 mm thick.

Take the shell out of the refrigerator and with the help of a spatula evenly distribute the peach preserves on it to create a thin layer.

Arrange the peach slices on top of the preserves to make the top layer. Having tried both ways, I prefer starting from the outside and make circles until I reach the center.

Put the crostata in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

The crostata is ready when the border is golden brown. If necessary, put the crostata back in the oven and check it again after two minutes. Repeat the last step as needed. (In my oven, the baking takes 42 minutes.)

Remove the crostata from the oven and let cool slightly on a rack. If you have used a tart pan with a removable bottom, release the tart base from the fluted tart ring.

Let cool a bit longer on the rack, then, with the help of a wide spatula, slide the crostata onto a serving plate. Make sure it is completely cool before slicing and serving.

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