Fresh Orange Tart- adding a bit of sun to winter

Enrico,  our favorite citrus vendor

This winter the snow has been slow to arrive after a very early appearance around the 26 October when all was green and the leaves were still on the trees. Now that the white blanket of snow has covered up the unrelenting brown of the winter, it's time for a splash of color. My favorite winter remedy would be the luscious citrus fruits from the south of Italy. Our Sicilian citrus farmers send up some of the tastiest oranges, clementines, and mandarins found anywhere. I always look forward to late autumn when the road side trucks laden with oranges begin to reappear randomly and in regular pull off points where they beckon you to buy a case or two of sunshine and sweetness. Drawn to pull over and inspect the vendors goods, unable to resist the siren song of oranges, we come away with a case of oranges and mandarins. Orange indulgences to follow. We've peeled and juiced these globes of desire until I finally begin to use them up in other ways that requires a tad more effort. 

Tarocco or "Tarot" oranges which are called red oranges here never called blood oranges

I made this orange tart to try and replicate it after having enjoyed a fabulous slice at Caffe' Roma, which is one of our favorite bars in Pinerolo,  The cafe is located at the corner of Piazza Roma, where the daily Farmers market usually draws us in on our market visits. Caffe'Roma is owned and run by 3 brothers, of which 2 work in the  bar and one brother, Francesco, runs the kitchen. I frequently run into the chef shopping at this market and that always puts a smile on my face. I actually see a number of local restauranteurs shopping here and that is so encouraging. Caffe' Roma is a popular lunch time choice, as they serve deliciously genuine and reasonably priced food. You can choose to dine inside or al fresco at one of the curbside tables. I love Franceso's orange tart as it is not one that I have made or enjoyed much before coming to live in Italy. His selection of desserts are always enticing. He has shared his talent, teaching workshops at the restaurant, and at Frossasco's Mueso del Gusto. Unfortunately, I have not been able to attend, so I am left to my own resources. My recipe for this tart is pretty simple as he told it should be. Perhaps not the perfection that I found in his balance of flavor and technique, but tasty and worth making when you want to bring a little sunshine into your day.

Crostat di Arance---Fresh Orange Tart

Fresh Orange Tart or Crostata di Arance

Yields: 1-10 inch or 1-25 cm  crust
Oven Temp 200*C /375*F to blind bake the crust then later to 190*C / 350*F

Pasta Frolla

Ingredients:

200g flour, plain flour or Italian 00 (1 1/2 c / 7 oz flour**) 
125g butter, chilled, but not soft or too hard (1/2c / 4.4 oz)

75 g sugar, granulated or castor (6 T / 2.6 oz)

2 egg yolks

Add sugar to the flour and mix.

Cut the butter into smallish pieces and rub the butter into the flour with your fingers.

Make a well in the middle of the dough.

Add the egg yolks, and stir or mix well with your hands till it comes together in a soft dough.

Knead lightly and briefly to get a smooth dough, being careful not to work the dough too much

Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, as it makes it easier to handle.

Roll out on floured surface or between lightly floured parchment paper for ease.

**Cooks notes: I have found the dough might require more flour as weight to volume flour conversions can vary greatly. Add a little flour at a time if you think the dough is too sticky to get it to be a manageable dough and if necessary, be generous with the flour when rolling the dough out.

For the filling:

Orange peel (organic is best) 

1/2 c sugar 

1/2 c  water

500g oranges slices, peeled  (a little over a pound of oranges, after peeled, maybe 4)

Apricot preserves or Orange marmalade,  a goodly amount as needed for covering the crust and glazing the top,

Brandy or rum

Directions:

Mix up the pasta frolla and refrigerate.

While waiting for the dough to chill, prepare your filling.

Wash the whole oranges and wipe dry.

Before removing the peel from the orange, I either zest or use a channel knife to remove the orange peel zest or strips before actually removing it from the orange itself. 

If you hve neither tool, remove the peel form the oranges, making sure to remove the white pith from the orange. If the white pith is too plentiful scrape some off with a small paring knife. 

Julienne (cutting the peel into thin slivers) the peel.

 In a small sauce pan add the water and sugar and heat to boil. 

When the sugar is dissolved add some or all of the peel. You might need to increase the amount of equal parts of sugar/ water if you have a lot of peels. 

Simmer the peels in the sugar water till softened and translucent. Remove from the syrup and lay flat on a plate or waxed paper when cooled to dry slightly. 

Set aside.

Slice your peeled oranges into rounds and set aside also.

Roll your pastry out to fit a 10" or 25 cm removable bottom tart tin.

Place your pasta frolla in the pan and trim as needed.

Prick the bottom of the pastry generously with a fork.

Line the pastry with baking paper and weigh down with beans or another pan that fits inside. 

Blind bake at 200* C / 375*F for about 20-25 minutes, removing the pan partway though the baking so the middle bakes more thoroughly. With beans or weights, i would bake with them on top the whole time. 

Cool slightly.

Mix your preferred preserves with a few drop of brandy or rum to thin slightly. Warm up on the stove top to make it easier to spread. 

Cover the bottom with a thinnish layer of preserves. I used marmalade as I have quite a bit on hand that I make. 

Now cover the bottom with your jam and crust with the orange slices in a decorative circle, slightly overlapping the edges, till all is covered.

Lower the temperature of your oven to 190*C/350*F

Bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes to cook through. 

Thin more marmalade with liquor to make a thin glaze and light glaze the whole tart while warm. Let cool at least 15 minutes before trying to cut it. It will be hard to resist the urge to devour it right out of the oven, but do wait or the crust will crumble. 

Great served at room temperature and is just as tasty the next day or so. 

Let the sun shine through!

Nutella Crumb Crostata, for any day including World Nutella Day 2011

At our house we normally don't do much to Nutella other than slather it on a slice of my home made bread. For my husband Fabrizio, Nutella, has always been part of the morning repertoire since he can remember, as we are in the heart of the homeland of Nutella. I, of course, am a relative late comer, only discovering it on a European holiday and then waiting a number of years before finding it on the shelves of our grocery stores in the high country of Colorado, with a price tag befitting the high altitude. Now I find that living where hazelnuts are king and Nutella is relatively cheap, it's fun to experiment with different ways of using it when World Nutella Day arrives. Naturally Everyone is happy to share in the tasting and our guests are happy when they find it making its way onto our breakfast table at the B&B.
To learn more about World Nutella Day and the round up of all the posts and recipes from this event head over to the World Nutella Day site. Make sure to check out the  dynamic duo who pull this event together every year, Sara Rosso and Michelle Fabio and their blogs at  Ms Adventures in Italy and Bleeding Espresso.

This crostata was inspired by a chocolate slice I had in a brand spanking new bar in Pinerolo, l'Oragiusta, that serves it up with Illy coffee for the ultimate in favorite pairings. I will be reviewing that bar shortly as it is a wonderful addition to the choices in bar hopping in Pinerolo and is right on the market square.
Anyway, they made a luscious slice that I have come pretty close to replicating with the hazelnut difference. Naturally, I learned a few things along the way, like the long pan I used was just a tad to small. Making it in two identical pans would have lost the thick crust that is almost like a soft butterscotch texture which is a delightful vessel fot the subtle Nutella filling. I think this sized pan with a small tartlet pan would have been the ideal combination, but I wanted this recipe to fit this pan. I sacrificed the edges to be on the overly brown side to insure it being done. The recipe works great, I just need to get the size of the pan in line.  I think if you use an 8" square, you would find it to work out in one go.
Fabrizio really likes that is isn't overly sweet and I think an addition of orange or hazelnut liqueur would set the filling off just right, so I am going to add it into the recipe, even though I didn't add it this time. I see a bright future for this recipe starring on our Bella Baita ever evolving repertoire. I hope it finds its way onto to your dessert or tea time table for a whisper of Italian coffee bar culture.

Nutellla Crumb Crostata
Yields one overly full 33cm x10cm 13”x4” long pan with extras
or 8” square or one long tart pan and a small tartlette pan to use up all the ingredients

Pasta Frolla Crust
Ingredients
300g / 2+3/8 c / 7oz,  flour, plain, all purpose (scoop and sweep for cups)
150g / 3/4c / 5.3oz, sugar, I like organic raw cane sugar, which is a kind of white brown sugar
200g / 7/8c /  7oz, butter, not too warm, but not right out of the refrigerator
1 egg
5g / 1 tsp,  vanilla extract
extra flour for rolling

Method for the crostata
Mix your flour and sugar in a medium large bowl.
Cut in the butter into small pieces into the flour sugar mixture.
I rub the mixture together  with my fingers to achieve a crumbly texture. You can use a pastry cutter or fork, but I find my fingers work the best.
Set aside 112g / 3/4c of this mixture to become the crumb topping later.
Make a well in the middle of the remaining crumbs
Add 1 egg and vanilla extract
With a fork beat your egg and extract to homogenize the egg.
Gradually pick up the crumbs until you have a dough that holds together.
You may need to dust some extra flour around the bowl to get the dough to come away from the sides of the bowl and form a solid mass.
Gently and gingerly make the dough smooth with a small amount of kneading.
I manage this in the bowl, but you might find it easier to achieve in the table if your bowl is a bit small. make sure to dust the table and your hands generously with flour to keep it all from sticking. The dough will be somewhat wet. I flatten the dough and either cover in the bowl or with some plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes or so until it is chilled and easier to roll or pat out.

Once the dough is firm roll between two sheet of plastic wrap  to get a shape to fit your pan or pans. Be generous with your flour, but work quickly so your dough doesn’t get too warm and start sticking. You don’t want or need to incorporate too much flour.
Grease and flour your pan. I like pans with removable bottoms, or I like to use parchment paper to insure it easily comes out of the pan.

While your dough is chiling finish your crumb topping and Nutella filling.

Line your pan with the dough pressing it into the corners and patting the dough evenly into place.
Dock your dough by pricking the bottom with a fork so it doesn’t rise too much while baking.
Blind bake your dough almost ¾ of the way done, by first covering the dough with a sheet of aluminum foil and weighting it down with beans or pie weights. I had some small heavy round tart pans that weighted it down nicely.
Depending on your oven bake at 190* / 350* for about 20-30 minutes, depending on your oven.  I I have a convection oven which bakes very quickly.  
Remove the foil and check the color. Bake until light golden brown, but the bottom isn’t fully cooked, about ¾ of the way cooked. It will still have some give to it.
Add your Nutella filling evenly over the center of your pan.
There should be a depression to fill. If not, press the center of the dough down.
Fill with Nutella mixture and continue to bake  until the filling begins to set.
Add your crumb topping now. You can add it at the same time as your filling also. The crumbs will stay softer and whiter if you add them part way through the cooking process.
Bake until the filling is solid and has lost its shininess. You want to cook it through, but not completely solid. It took about 45 minutes to bake the dough and filling from beginning till done.
The baking times will vary depending on the thickness of the dough and your ovens’ personality.
Cool some before removing from your pan. I think the flavors come out when it cools completely.
The crostata holds very well for a few days if well covered.

Crumb topping
Ingredients and method
112g (¾ c)  sugar, flour and butter mix
Add 2T sugar, raw cane sugar
1T flour

Combine your crumb mixture that you  set aside and add the additional sugar and flour and clump it together between your fingers to  make clumps of various sized crumbs.

Nutella Filling
Ingredients and method

200ml / 8 oz heavy cream
8g / 1T cornstarch, don’t substitute flour as it will overwhelm the delicate flavor of the Nutella
24g / 2T Sugar, raw cane sugar
1 egg
300g / 1c Nutella
30g / 2 T orange liqueur, hazelnut or chocolate to kick up the flavor

In a small heavy bottomed sauce pan being your cream just to a boil being careful not to boil it and remove from heat, but keep it warm.
Mix your cornstarch and sugar together for easier addition without lumping.
In a small bowl, whisk the one egg till smooth.
Add the sugar and corn starch and whisk till all is incorporated.
Slowly drizzle the hot cream a little at a time into the egg mixture so not to cook the egg mixture.
Once you have added all the cream to the egg, pour the mixture back into the sauce pan. Make sure the bottom of the pan is clean.
Return the mixture to low heat and whisk the mixture occasionally till the mix thickens and cooks through. Remove from heat if necessary and add the Nutella and whisk till blended and melted into a thick pudding like consistency. Return to heat if necessary to melt and thicken. It shouldn’t take but a few minutes. Add the liqueur flavoring if desired. Remove from heat but keep it warm till you have the crust ready to fill.  Refer to the directions above to finish the crostata.