I lived in the same house as Grampa until the age of eight, and learned things from him in an almost subliminal way. I credit him with my ear for languages, since he spoke Sicilian 95% of the time. He was a great bread maker, as I have mentioned in previous posts, and although my yeast-dough skills are meager, baking certainly figured prominently into our lives.
Grampa, who was a farmer in Sicily before emigrating to the U.S., had a garden to be proud of. On a rather small patch of soil nestled in our back yard, he planted and harvested beans, tomatoes, zucchini, Swiss chard, lettuce, garlic - and his famous figs. Yes! Figs in Western New York - known for our bone-chilling winters. He would bend the tree into the ground in the fall, cover it with leaves where it would rest until spring. He even fashioned a trellis across the entire width of the yard and grew grapes destined to become red wine.
What I learned about gardening with Grandpa was to use seasonal crops at the height of their ripeness. So, that brings me back to today's post - Peach Crostada, using three extra-ripe peaches and a few add-ins. I think Grandpa would like it.
You will need a single pie crust circle. Place it on a parchment-covered tray and set aside.
Peel and slice the peaches; add ⅓ cup of sugar, ½ teaspoon of nutmeg, 1 tablespoon of instant tapioca and mix together gently.
Place the sweetened fruit onto the pastry to within about 1-2” from the edges. Cut 1 tablespoon of butter into small pieces and dot the peaches. Fold up the edges, pleating or folding the crust to cover some of the fruit, leaving the center open.
Brush the dough with the egg wash; sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of sugar over the dough and the fruit.
Bake for 8 minutes @425°. Lower temperature to 375° and continue baking until the crust is browned; - approximately 35 minutes.
Cool; serve warm or cold with ice cream or whipped cream.