Strawberry Sumac Fregolatta

an old favorite

One of my very favorite fruit + pastry combination is the fregolatta. I first stumbled on this simple, rustic tart in one of my favorite cookbooks Wild Sweetness by Thalia Ho and it instantly became a permanent fixture in my dessert repertoire.

A fregolotta or an Italian jam tart is made from a coarse, shortbread-like crust. The name comes from “fregole”, the Venetian word for crumbs and the same shortbread dough that gets pressed into the bottom of the pan, also gets scattered across the top haphazardly. Often, the crust incorporates some sort of nut or grain, like semolina or polenta or almonds. In this rendition, the crust is made from ground sunflower seeds, cornmeal, flour, sugar, egg yolks, and butter. This Italian jam tart can be filled with any jam you like, but for this recipe, I simmered fresh strawberries with a little sugar and bright, tart sumac to create a sticky, sweet jam filling. You could use any jam you’d like or any seasonal fruit, cooked until soft with a little sugar.

In practical notes, if your jam seems a little too liquid-y, just scoop out the berries and reserve some of the fruit sauce for drizzling on ice cream later.

strawberry sumac fregolatta

makes one 9” tart

Ingredients:

for the strawberry sumac filling:

1 lb strawberries, trimmed and quartered

226 g (about 1 cup) granulated sugar

Juice of 1/2 of a large lemon

1 tbsp ground sumac

for the crust:

1 1/4 cup + 1 tsp (160 g) all purpose flour

120 g ground sunflower seeds

1/4 cup (40 g) cornmeal

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (115 g) granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

2 egg yolks

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (200 g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed

Procedure:

1. Stir together all filling ingredients in a medium pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until strawberries have broken down and the mixture has thickened. Transfer to a bowl and chill until room temperature.

2. While the filling is cooling, place sunflower seeds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt and pulse once or twice just to combine.

3. Add the butter to the food processor and pulse until butter has broken up and is pea-sized. Add the yolks and pulse until mixed in and dough just begins to come together.

4. Press 2/3 of the dough in an even layer on the bottom and up the sides of a tart pan. Spoon the strawberry filling* (see notes) into the tart pan and crumble the remaining 1/3 of the dough over the top of the tart.

5. Place the tart pan on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes, until filling is bubbly and crust is golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing.

Note: If the strawberry filling seems like it has a lot of liquid, fish the strawberry pieces out of the jam and don’t add all of the leftover juice to the fregolotta. Keep the juice for topping on ice cream!