Sour Cherry Crostata

For the filling:
Heat butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until melted and the foam subsides. Then add fresh or frozen cherries with any juices and the sugar and simmer, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Cherries will exude juices. Continue to simmer until cherries are tender but not falling apart, about 8 minutes.

In a small bowl stir together water and cornstarch to form a thick paste, then stir it into the simmering filling and boil, stirring frequently for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool filling quickly by spreading it in a shallow baking pan and chilling until lukewarm, about 15 minutes.

For the crust:
Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Then blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with the ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in food processor) until incorporated.

Squeeze a small handful of the dough. If it doesn’t hold together, add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated. Then test again. Do not overwork the mixture, or pastry will be tough.

Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. With the heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute the fat. Gather dough together with scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a 6-inch disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm. This will take at least 1 hour.

Remove dough from the refrigerator and unwrap it. On a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper, roll the dough out to a 16 inch circle. Place rolled dough with parchment paper on a baking sheet and fold ends over to fit on sheet. Then refrigerate for 30 minutes

Preheat oven to 425 F.

After 30 minutes, take dough from refrigerator and unfold dough. Place cherry pie filling onto the crust leaving a 2 inch border around the edges of the crust. Fold crust over filling, pleating as necessary, leaving middle of pie open.

Bake at 425 F for 40 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious.