Butternut Squash, Sausage, Walnut, Ricotta Crostata
Total Time: 01h 00m
Makes: 6 servings
Bursting with warm and smoky flavors, this rustic crostata is easily doubled. Puff pastry replaces the normal pie crust dough giving it a more “croissant like” texture. An herbed ricotta base with walnuts and sage dotted throughout the hearty squash and sausage filling. Finish it off with a drizzle of Sutter Buttes white truffle oil. (Thank you to our friend Stacey Swanson for creating this wonderful recipe.)
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Ingredients
- Beyond Gourmet parchment paper
- Olive or avocado oil
- 1 sheet of slightly thawed puff pastry
- 1/2 pound of ground mild Italian sausage cooked thoroughly
- 1 pound of cubed 1/2 inch or so butternut squash
- 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
- 1 cup of full fat ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup of shredded gouda
- Frontier Co-op Herb Fest Seasoning
- Simply Organic ground sage
- Simply Organic umami blends sweet & smoky
- Frontier Co-op salt and pepper
- Fresh sage leaves
- 1 egg with a tablespoon of water for egg wash
- Sutter Buttes white truffle oil for drizzling
Directions
- You will want to slightly thaw your puff pastry, around 45 minutes. We don’t want it frozen but we don’t want it warm. Keep in fridge until ready to use. You want all your ingredients prepped and ready to go. The key to puff pastry is super cold dough and getting it into a hot oven so the butter steams the layers of dough into a light flaky crust.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Toss your cubed squash in some olive or avocado oil and sprinkle with some sweet & smoky umami blend, salt & pepper to taste. Roast in the oven about 20 minutes or fork tender.
- While squash is roasting brown off your Italian sausage until nice & crumbly.
- Mix 1 cup of the ricotta with some ground sage & herb fest seasoning to your taste, add salt & pepper.
- Layer parchment paper on a cookie sheet, unroll your puff pastry and using a rolling pin, roll it out just a little bit thinner. 11x11 works well. Take your fork and quickly prick the dough.
- Spread the herbed ricotta over the puff pastry leaving about an inch border.
- Layer on the sausage, squash, walnuts, then shredded gouda.
- Working quickly but gently start folding the border over the filling, working your way around and pleating and pinching it slightly together making a rustic circle. This is not going to be perfectly even. This is a rustic tart.
- Brush the border of your tart with your egg wash and pop it back in to the 400 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and puffy.
- For serving, cut into wedges, sprinkle on fresh sage or any herbs you have at the house and drizzle with the truffle oil.
