PREPARATION 15 MIN | COOK TIME 15 MINS | SERVES 4
Pastry
-
1 1/3 cups (200g) plain flour
- ½ cup (110g) sugar + 2 tablespoons extra
- 160g cold butter, diced + 1 tablespoon extra
- 2 tablespoons (40ml) iced water
Filling
-
6 approx Redbelly Blood Oranges
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
- 1 large egg yolk whisked with 2 tablespoons of water
Redbelly Syrup
-
¼ cup (60ml) strained Redbelly blood orange juice
- 1/3 cup (75g) sugar
To Serve
- Crème fraiche or ice cream
Method
- Place flour and sugar in a food processor. Blend to combine, then add the butter and pulse 15-20 times until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the iced water all at once and blend only until just combined. Do not overwork the pastry or it will shrink. Turn the mixture into a plastic bag, compress into a ball and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes. (You can, of course, make this well in advance and leave in the fridge.) Divide dough into four. Roll each piece out on a floured surface with a rolling pin into rounds 4mm thick. Place each on a baking paper lined flat baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes, or until chilled.
- Meanwhile, peel the blood oranges, removing all the bitter white pith. Thinly slice crosswise; remove the pips, place in colander and drain off any excess juice. Reserve juice for syrup.
- Combine 1 tablespoon extra sugar with cardamom. Sprinkle one teaspoon over each of the pastry bases. Arrange the orange sections on the pastries, keeping like colours together, leaving a 3cm border all around each one. Sprinkle another teaspoon extra sugar (without cardamom) over the oranges on each of the crostata. Using a paring knife, thinly slice the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter over the oranges. Fold the pastry over the oranges in a rustic fashion with little pleat-like folds leaving most of the oranges uncovered; brush pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Refrigerate again for 15 minutes while the oven heats to 200°C. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- For the Redbelly syrup; combine juice with sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently to dissolve sugar until it bubbles. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Cool.
- Remove crostata from oven, cool for 5 mins or so, then slide onto serving plates. Serve with Redbelly syrup, crème fraiche or ice-cream, as desired.