When asked what my food style is the answer will always be…”approachable”. I don’t enjoy spending hours in the kitchen creating picture perfect food with a thousand ingredients. In fact, the fewer ingredients and minutes I can put into producing a delicious outcome the better. Having said that, I also won’t serve up a dish that isn’t flavoursome so, if a takes a little more time so be it.

Fruit is always at its best when in season and tends to be cheaper to boot. This is a simple, throw together recipe, you could make with any number of fruit varieties including peaches, pears, figs, apricots…you get my drift. I used plums as they were sitting under $2 a kilo and were locally grown.

The almond meal on the base is used to soak up some of the juices from the roasting plums and keeps the pastry from going soggy, just in case anyone was wondering.

Put this one in regular rotation when entertaining. Add vanilla, thyme mascarpone as a condiment to dress it up or serve it to the kids with some natural yoghurt as I did.

Plum Crostata

Ingredients

Tart

300g Sweet Shortcrust Pastry – I used a pre cut hand made pastry by local artisans Empire Pastry , but you can easily make some (recipe here) or use any store bought pastry you choose.

4 tbsp almond meal

400g seasonal plums, stoned and sliced into 6 or 8 wedges depending on the size

1 tbsp granulated sugar

Walnut Crumble

2 tbsp spelt flour

2 tbsp brown sugar

20g butter, room tempreature

1tbsp shredded coconut (organic if possible)

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Method

Pre heat oven to 220C

Thaw pastry sheet and lay out on a lined baking tray

Spread the almond meal across the base in a circle leaving a 4cm gap around the outside.

Lay out the plum wedges in a circle on top of the almond meal, leaving the 4cm outside gap clear.

Toss the granulated sugar evenly across the plums

Tuck the edges of the pastry in to create your circular tart pinching and flattening the pastry as it meets.

To make the crumble combine all ingredients into a bowl and bring together gently with the tips of your fingers.

Spread the crumble mix across the top of the plums. It wont cover the fruit just provide a light coating to two thirds of the tart.

Cook for 30 minutes or until your pastry and crumble top are both crisp and golden.

Allow to cool slightly before serving.