Recipe: Pumpkin, Sage & Walnut Crostata

A crostata is a traditional Italian baked tart or pie with rustic free- form pastry case. This recipe has a sweet pumpkin filling and tangy Stilton topping for a dramatic veggie dish to feed the family 

INGREDIENTS 

1 pack of pre-rolled shortcrust pastry

Plain flour, for dusting

1 small pumpkin peeled, deseeded and cut into 1cm-thick wedges 

4 shallots, quartered

4 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

Small bunch of sage, leaves picked

Olive oil, for drizzling 

50g/2oz walnuts

1 tsp clear honey

2 tsp wholegrain mustard 

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 

Pinch of dried chilli flakes 

30g/1oz unsalted butter 

12 sage leaves

40g/11⁄2oz blue cheese, such as Stilton

Crumbled Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/Gas Mark 6. Then in two large shallow roasting tins, add a layer of the pumpkin wedges, shallots, garlic and sage. Drizzle over enough olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 minutes. 

2. Remove the tins from the oven and then add the walnuts to one of the tins and roast for a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven (keep the oven on) and scrape the walnut and pumpkin mixture into a food processor. 

3. Now add the honey, mustard, vinegar and chilli flakes and blitz on a high speed, drizzle in about 4 tablespoons of olive oil, enough to turn the mixture into a smooth consistency, season to taste. 

4. Line a large baking sheet with non-stick baking paper. Roll out the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface and cut a rough 25cm circle. Transfer the pastry circle to the lined baking sheet. Spoon the blended mixture into the centre of the pastry, leaving a border of about 4cm around the edge. Arrange the reserved pumpkin wedges and vegetables on top of the mixture and then fold the pastry border up around the edge and crimp. Bake for 30 minutes. 

5. While the crostata is baking, melt the butter in a frying pan, and when it starts to foam add the sage leaves around the pan so that none overlap. Use a spatula to turn the leaves over and crisp them up – about 45 seconds. Remove the leaves and transfer on to a sheet of kitchen paper to crisp up further. 

6. Remove the crostata from the oven and crumble over the blue cheese and crispy sage leaves. Leave to cool and allow the blue cheese to melt into the crostata for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.