I spent the better part of last week trawling through dozens of Italian food blogs. Not only did I find some great blogs, but I also managed to meet a whole lot of wonderful new people in Italy who are also passionate about food. Hence, it soon became apparent that Italian food bloggers are some of the most friendly, helpful and jovial bloggers that I have come across to date.

One blog that I keep returning to again and again is Sigrid Verbert's blog Il Cavoletto di Bruxelles. I have easily bookmarked about ten recipes from Sigrid's beautiful blog. If you are unfamiliar with Sigrid's blog I urge you to take a moment and go have a look at her site as her photographs are stunning and her recipes are both imaginative, yet uncomplicated.

One recipe that leapt out at me was the Crostata di Mele con Crema di Noci.  The fact that I already had a kilo of walnuts and a bowl full of Granny Smith apples was all the encouragement I needed. Unfortunately my Italian is not what it used to be, so this is literally my 'interpretation' of Sigrid's delicious crostata.


Crostata di Mele con Crema di Noci


Ingredients

Shortcrust pastry

115g of unsalted butter

1/3 cup castor sugar

1 organic egg yolk

½ tsp vanilla extract

185g plain flour, sifted


Crema di Noci

200 g walnuts, shelled

¼ cup of raw caster sugar

2 organic eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ cup of thick cream
 

For the topping

5 Granny Smith apples, peeled & thinly sliced

2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes

2 tbsp raw caster sugar




 
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4

2. Place flour, sugar and butter in the Magimix or food processor and process for 10-15 seconds or until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and continue to process until the pastry clings together and forms a ball. Remove pastry from the machine and knead it gently to form a smooth ball. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

3. Lightly flour work surface and rolling pin and roll pastry to a thickness of 2-3mm. Line 28cm diameter tart tin with pastry, trim the edges and then blind bake for 15 minutes until pale golden. Remove paper and weights and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes. Remove and cool.

4. Place the walnuts, sugar, eggs, cinnamon and cream in the Magimix or food processor and gently pulse. You want the texture of the crema di noci to be a rough, chunky consistency.

5. Spread the crema di noci into the crostata shell and then place the sliced apples on top. Finally sprinkle the apples with a little more sugar and dot the top of the crostata with the cubed butter. Bake at 220C/425F/Gas 7 for twenty minutes or until the apples are a nice golden colour. Serve warm with some good quality vanilla ice cream.