It is seriously peach season!!! They are so sweet and juicy and delicious on their own, but let’s face it, about a billion times better as the center of this heavenly Peach Streusel Crostata! It’s what’s on the menu for this beginning-of-August weekend!!

If making pie dough, especially the rolling out and crimping part intimidates you, a crostata is going to be your new best friend. You can eliminate so much stress because by nature it’s supposed to be freeform and rustic—aka, you want it to look homemade, so all mistakes are forgiven! Whew!

All anyone will be focusing on is the golden, flaky pie crust filled with juicy peaches and the addictively crumbly streusel topping. Yum!!

Even if you’ve never attempted a pie before in your life, I promise you can do it! Here’s how:

After you prepare and chill the dough, you roll it out into a rough, 12-inch “circle”—

And top with sliced peaches that have been tossed in brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and flour.

Next, you sprinkle the streusel all over the fruit

And fold the dough up and over it, pleating a little as you go.

After a short stint in the freezer to firm up the dough, you brush it with a little egg wash, sprinkle on some turbinado sugar

And bake until the peaches are bubbly and the dough is a gorgeous golden brown!

Remember, this is supposed to be homey, so no worries when some of the peach juice leaks out—in fact, it’s sort of a rite of passage!! How else will anyone know you really made this divine concoction yourself?!!

If you’re patient and really let it cool, I promise you that it will cut beautifully (but no judgment if you just cannot wait—again, no one will mind a messy slice, not when it tastes this good!!)

Every bite is just the perfect combo of juicy peaches, crisp crust and sweet, buttery streusel. The perfect ending to any meal!

The only way to improve on this is to top it with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Honestly, anyone you serve this to will love you forever!!

Ok, my friends, enjoy this wonderful, summery treat—I’m closing up shop here for the next week while I go on a much delayed and needed vacation with my crew—have a terrific weekend and week and I’ll see you mid-August hopefully refreshed, recharged and inspired to share a whole new slew of treats with you!! Stay well and safe!!xoxo

Peach Streusel Crostata

Makes 8 servings

Prep Time for crust: 10 minutes, plus at least one hour chilling time and time to roll out; Prep Time for filling: 15 minutes; Prep Time for streusel: 10-12 minutes; Assembly and bake time: About 45 minutes

Ingredients

For the crust

1 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and refrigerated until very cold
1/3 cup cold water
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Ice cubes

For the filling

Generous 2 pounds ripe peaches
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of ground cinnamon

For the streusel

1/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

For the crostata

1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water (egg wash)
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top

The Recipe

1. To make the crust: In the bowl of the food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and pulse the mixture a few times, until the butter is the size of small peas. Be careful not to over mix. Measure the water out in a measuring cup and add the vinegar. Then add enough ice into the cup to reach the 1/2 cup mark. Give it a little stir.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of the ice water to the flour and pulse a few times to mix together. It will still look pretty dry at this point, so add in another tablespoon of water and pulse again. You want the mixture to look like a loose streusel topping, not a dough. If it looks really, really dry add another tablespoon of water and pulse again. This should usually be enough. Resist the temptation to add more water—if your dough gets too wet, it’ll wind up tough. You want it to look crumbly.

3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface or board and gather all the crumbly bits into a ball. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerating for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

5. To make the filling: Bring a large pot of water to boil. Fill a large bowl with water and ice and place it near the stove. In batches, boil the peaches for 1 minute and then plunge them into the ice water. When cool, remove them from the water and dry. It should be easy now to slip the skins off. Cut the peaches into ½-inch wedges and place in a medium bowl. Discard the pits. Toss the peaches with the brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and set aside.

6. To make the streusel: place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until you get a crumbly mixture. Dump into a bowl and rub with your fingers until clumps form. Cover and chill until ready to use. You can definitely make this a day ahead and keep covered and chilled. You can also skip the food processor and combine by hand, cutting the butter in with a pastry blender.

7. When you are ready to bake the crostata, lightly flour a board and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a 12-inch round, about 1/4-inch thick. Don’t roll too thin or the fruit will ooze out as it’s cooking. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet.

8. Pile the fruit mixture into the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border and mounding the fruit. If there is a lot of liquid in the bowl, leave it behind or it will make the dough too wet. Sprinkle the streusel all over the fruit and then fold the dough over the fruit, pleating it and pinching the folds gently to help seal it.

9. Place the tray in the freezer for 15 minutes, so that the dough gets very firm. Then remove and brush the dough with the egg wash and then sprinkle the dough with a little of the turbinado sugar. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the juices are all bubbly.

10. Let cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack. Then slice and serve warm or at room temperature. A scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of sweetened whipped cream is not a bad idea!

Enjoy!

Note: Crust recipe is my regular go-to. Streusel is adapted from Ina Garten.