Circle B Kitchen
The beautiful thing about crostatas are that they do not require much fussiness. They’re rustic, free-form and open to your creative whims and impulses. Here’s how I made mine, but feel free to switch it up and make it your own.
Ingredients:
Enough pastry dough for a 9 or 10-inch pie crust (store bought or homemade)
6 or 7 fresh, ripe figs, sliced
2 tablespoons of raw or turbinado sugar
Balsamic vinegar syrup (recipe below)
Mascarpone cream (recipe below)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the parchment paper onto a flat surface and roll the pastry dough into a 10 or 12-inch circle (this doesn’t need to be exact as rustic looks best) on the parchment paper. Transfer this to your baking sheet.
Place the fig slices over the center of the dough, leaving a 1½ to 2 inch border. Fold the edges of the dough over the figs. Sprinkle the figs and the edges of the dough with the raw sugar and place in a preheated oven. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the edges of the dough start to turn golden brown.
Let cool briefly before slicing. This can be served warm or at room temperature. To serve, top each slice with a dollop of mascarpone cream and a drizzle of balsamic syrup.
For the Balsamic Syrup:
In a small saucepan combine 1 cup of balsamic vinegar and ¼ cup sugar. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until reduced by half or until thick and syrup-y. Be careful to not let it get too thick as it will thicken further as it cools. Another version of this that makes an incredibly delicious syrup is to cook down 1 cup of balsamic vinegar with 1 cup of port wine and 1/2 cup of sugar. Let this simmer until thick and syrup-y. It's divine.
For the Mascarpone Cream:
Combine 8 oz of softened (room temperature) mascarpone cheese with 2 teaspoons vanilla and ¼ cup of sugar. Stir to combine thoroughly. Add more sugar to taste.