This is a wonderful summer dessert that has a beautiful rustic appeal.  I used almonds in the crust and a bit of extract to flavor the fruit for delicious flavor.  The quality and taste of the dessert is obviously continent on the quality of your fruit.  Peaches are in season right now, so look for firm, but fragrant peaches that can be separated from the pit without too much effort.  I like to keep the skins on as I think it adds to not only great color but also conforms with the rustic nature of this dessert.  You could easily substitute in nectarines for the fruit and any other berry that is most ripe.  I love the almond flavor with the peaches and raspberries.  I like to roll my dough out on a piece of parchment paper and then transfer the parchment paper and the tart directly onto the baking sheet.  This is a helpful way to avoid mishaps when working with the dough as it gets soft as your assembling the tart,  and it also helps ensure an easy transfer from counter to baking sheet while keeping mess to a minimum as you prepare your tart and during the baking process.

Yield: about 8 slices

Ingredients:

for crust:

  • 2/3 cup sliced almonds, divided
  • 1 1/2 cup of flour
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and diced
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons chilled vodka
  • 1 chilled egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • egg wash: 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon milk or cream

for filling:

  • 6 medium peaches, thinly sliced (approx 1/4 inch segments)
  • 1 pint raspberries
  • 1/4-1/2 cup sugar (to taste)
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • powdered sugar for dusting
  • vanilla ice cream for serving

Directions:

for crust:  In a food processor, grind 1/3 a cup of almonds until quite fine.  Add flour, salt and sugar and pulse to combine.  Then add diced butter and process until the dough is crumbly like a coarse corn meal.  Combine vodka, egg yolk and almond extract and add to the dough.  Process to combine and add an additional tablespoon or two of iced water just until dough comes together in a ball in your bowl.  Create a disk out of the dough and wrap in plastic.  Refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.

make filling:  In a large bowl, toss peach slices and raspberries with sugar flour, cinnamon and almond extract, reserving a few raspberries to place on the center of the galette.  Be careful mixing so as not to crush the raspberries.  Remove dough from refrigerator and place on a large sheet of parchment paper.  Roll dough out into a 15 inch circle on parchment.   Place fruit in the middle of the crust leaving a 1 1/2-2 inch border on the edge.  You can arrange the peaches and raspberries in organized spirals of concentric circles.  Place reserved raspberries on the top.  Fold the border toward the center of your crostata, sealing the edges.  Using a pastry brush, brush egg wash around all the edges.  Sprinkle remaining almonds on the pastry edges.  Transfer the crostata and parchment onto a large baking sheet.  Place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up.  Preheat oven to 425.  Bake crostata for 25-30 minutes.  If it gets too dark on the top, reduce the temperature a little bit.  The juices should be bubbly and crust will be golden.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.  Just before slicing, dust with powdered sugar if desired and serve with a big scoop of ice-cream.  Enjoy!