Cathy Katin-Grazzini
Cathy's Kitchen Prescription LLC 
www.cathyskitchenprescription.com
 
Apricot Cherry Crostata
 
An elegant, delicious, fruit-filled dessert to celebrate summer fruits at their peak. Mix it up with other stone fruit and berries in summer, or pears and fresh figs in autumn.
Prep Time 30 minutes     Bake Time 20 minutes      Make  9” pie  
 
INGREDIENTS
 
Crust
2 cups rolled oats
¾ cup dates, roughly chopped
½ cup silken tofu 
¼ cup walnuts, chopped
¼ cup whole flaxseeds, freshly ground
½ teaspoon Ceylon or true cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground
Pinch sea salt
 
Plant-Based Crema Pasticcera
Zest from 1 lemon
⅓ cup silken tofu
¾ cup date paste
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
⅓ cup arrowroot
Fruit Topping
5-6 ripe apricots, sliced
1 cup cherries, halved and pitted
¼ cup small red grapes
 
DIRECTIONS                                        
Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C
 
Crust
In a food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse to create a uniform crumbly dough. Roll between two sheets of wax or parchment paper to about ¼” thickness. Transfer to a pyrex pie dish.  Bake for 10 minutes, cool, set aside.
 
Date paste
Pit and roughly chopping dates. Transfer to a small bowl and barely cover with water. Microwave for 2 minutes or simmer on a stovetop for 5 minutes. Cool. Purée in a blender or small food processor. Excess date paste will keep in the freezer for months or in the fridge for several weeks.
Fruit Topping
Clean, pit, halve and slice fruit.
 
Plant-Based Crema Pasticcera
Combine all crema ingredients in a food processor or high-speed blender. Blend until very smooth. Strain through a sieve or strainer into a saucepan, pressing as much of the date paste through as you can. Over a moderate flame, whisk the crema until it thickens into a luscious. creamy pudding. Remove from heat, cover lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes to allow it to cool and thicken slightly.
 
Putting it all together
To compose the crostata, pour the crema over the crust, to about 1” thick or almost the capacity of the pie plate. Smooth with a spatula. Arrange the sliced apricots decoratively and add the cherries and grapes as you like.
 
Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until plating. The crostata will last up to 5 days in the fridge (...if it lasts that long!)