Gooseberry crostata with crumb topping

Pastry: (Makes 2 - use one, freeze one)

2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks cold, unsalted butter, diced
6 tablespoons ice water (more if needed)

Filling:
About 3 c. green gooseberries (I pick mine when they reach full size and just a few have begun to show a pink blush but are still hard)
2 tablespoons flour
1 c. sugar (or more, depending on taste)
Pinch of salt

Topping:
4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

Pastry: Place flour and salt in bowl of food processor fitted with blade, and pulse a few times to mix. Add butter and pulse until butter is the size of peas. With motor running add ice water until mixture just comes together and pulls away from sides. Stop immediately and turn out on floured board. Cut in half and shape in balls or disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate one pastry for at least 30 minutes to an hour. The other may be refrigerated for a few days or frozen for later use.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. On floured board, roll pastry into 11" circle and transfer to sheet pan. With your knife, trace a circle 1 1/2" inside the outer edge.

Filling: Toss gooseberries with flour, sugar, and salt. Mound the mixture on the pastry, inside the inner circle.

Topping: In food processor, combing flour, sugar, salt, and butter. Pulse until mixture is crumbly. Add pinches of the mixture evenly over the top of the berry mixture. Fold the outer edge of pastry over the fruit, pleating as needed.

Bake 20-25 minutes until crust is golden brown and the fruit is tender. Cool 5 minutes and carefully transfer to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temp. (Gooseberries are VERY tart. Adjust sugar amount to taste.)

Our gooseberries are not yet in our SFG, but we plan to transplant two bushes to beds next year as the corner anchors of our new bed section.

i am soooo jealous! My gooseberry plants were in the fire

Oh, I'm so sorry, Chocolatepop. My gooseberries are transplants from plants my grandmother had grown as long as I can remember, and I'm now 55. If I lost them I'd be devastated. If you were here, I'd give you a start of mine.

Are you finding plants to replace those you lost?

I have some extra seeds, i just don't know if there is enough time to start them again (do you know??)

The insurance company has been "fun" to work with

how do these taste? i was excited about them!

Are you talking about gooseberries?

Gooseberries grow on prickly bushes about waist-high, and the variety I grow (no idea what it is because it is so old) has fruit that grow to about marble-size. Some varieties have much larger fruit. The fruit is green and very hard when I like to pick them for pies. If allowed to ripen, the fruit turns rosy-pink and becomes very soft. Personally I think it has little flavor once it ripens. The birds will start going for them once they ripen, too.

The green fruit are so, so tart - think of eating green grapes - but when baked in a pie with plenty of sugar they have a flavor unlike anything else - rhubarb would probably be the next closest thing.

Speaking of green grapes, - my grandmother used to bake green grape pies for my German grandfather. He loved anything sweet and sour.

green grape pies??? I must have a recipe!

And I certainly am going to put gooseberries on my to grow list again next year!

It's been years since I had a green grape pie, but I'll post a recipe on a new thread that's to the best of my memory.