Daring bakers- really really late

So here I am about 10 days late with my DB posting- I had almost everything ready to go for the Thanksgiving dinner but then Mr. Potter happened. I had seen it once before already but our friends who are both fairly new parents (a 7 mo old and a 15-month old) wanted to desperately see the movie on Thanksgiving day. And since they brought with them a beautiful mango tart- my dessert plan went out the window. The menu included- a chickpea-butternut squash pot pie, carrot-parsnip soup and beet-apple salad.
Finally I got a chance to use the pasta frolla dough that has been sitting in my refrigerator for almost 2 weeks now! Yippeee....

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Ingredients

I used the version2 of the pasta frolla recipe, a crostata with a mixture of AP flour, almond meal and barley flour. You can check the DB website for more information on this recipe.

For filling, recipe source from Ciao Italia

1 cup long-grain rice
2 cups whole milk
3 inch piece of vanilla bean, slit lengthwise
1 pound cottage cheese, well drained
1 large eggs

1/4 cup apple sauce

1 tbsp finely ground flax seed in 1/4 cup water, beaten well
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method

Lightly spray a 9inch pie plate with butter spray. Set aside.

I used a food processor to make the dough and well my dough was chilling for oh only about 10 days!

To prepare the filling, pour the rice and milk into a 1-quart saucepan, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the saucepan with a small knife, cover, and bring the rice to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue cooking the rice until all the milk is absorbed. Let the rice cool.

In a large bowl, beat the cottage cheese, egg, apple sauce, flax seed in water, orange juice and zest, and sugar until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract. Fold in the cooled rice. Set the mixture aside.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Divide the dough in half- I could not do this because I had enough only for the crostata, nothing for the top. Roll on a lightly floured surface into a 14-inch circle. Line the tart shell with one rolled-out half and trim the edges even with the top sides of the prepared pie plate.


Fill the tart shell with the ricotta and rice filling. There will be a little of the filling left over. This can be baked separately in a small ovenproof dish or in small ramekins.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown (well there was not top in mine) and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the tart.

Cool the tart on a rack, then carefully remove the sides of the tart pan and place the tart on a decorative serving dish. Cut into wedges to serve.

Judgement

I really underestimated the flavors. Going into this, I was very skeptical but now I am a believer. Especially after a day of chilling in the refrigerator and a topping of melted berry jam- it was unbelievable! Loved it.