Butternut squash, broccoini, and prosciutto crostata with fontina cheese

Ben and I rolled into Victoria late Sunday night, which meant Myra was busy at work on her article for the Victoria Advocate. These articles (including recipe and photography) are due early every Monday morning, so the Starkey house each Sunday night is abuzz with ritualistic cooking and the digging up of memories in order to fashion these fabulous articles. This week she was writing about our collective memories of Christmas (and making us edit them ourselves). Since everyone was going to be up late anyway sitting around the kitchen chatting and snacking, I took the opportunity to make a crostata I had been wanting to make. Turned out tasty and kept us fed while we dug up our memories!

Below is the recipe and a few of my memories of Christmas:

Christmas meant Mom turning us loose in Toys R Us in order to make lists of what we wanted for Christmas…including the aisle and shelf number so that Santa could find them easier (never mind that Santa was supposed to be spending the remainder 364 days actually making these toys himself).

Christmas meant leaving cookies for Santa who would politely take only a few bites as he was clearly watching his jolly ol’ figure.

Christmas meant that American Girl doll (the pioneer woman) that I got as an 8 years old and the subsequent months my dad spent reading me her story books before I went to sleep.

Christmas meant snow…only once. I remember “sledding” behind a friend’s car with a rope and a trashcan lid (until my mom found out and made us stop).

Christmas now means Stephanie, Kim, and Caroline coming over to make gingerbread houses and mostly eat the candy until it either runs out or our houses fall over.

It means reading the Christmas story with my tightly knit family to remind us of why we all loved on each other through gifts and gathered together in the first place.

Butternut squash, broccoini, and prosciutto crostata with fontina cheese

FOR THE PASTRY:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces

1 ½ tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

3 tbsp ice water

1 egg, lightly beaten

FOR THE FILLING:

3 oz prosciutto, diced

½ cup diced ham (optional)

1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 cup butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

splash of olive oil

1 ½ cup broccolini, ends trimmed

¾  cup grated fontina cheese

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

In a food processor combine the flour and a ½ teaspoon of the salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse a few more times until the butter is finely chopped and the mixture resembles a coarse meal. In a small bowl combine the lemon juice and mascarpone, then add to the food processor and pulse a few times. Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time, pulsing briefly between each addition. Pulse just until the mixture is moist and crumbly, but does not form a mass around the blade; be careful not to over-mix. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Press into a disk, cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F. Heat a good glug of olive oil over medium heat. Add the broccolini to the pan and saute over medium heat until tender and lightly golden. Add in the ham (if using) and sauté until crisp. Dump the broccolini and ham into a bowl with prosciutto, thyme, and grated fontina. In the same pan, sauté the cubed butternut squash with another good glug of olive oil until golden brown and tender.

Add squash to the bowl (of ham and broccolini etc), remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, and pepper and toss to combine.

Place the chilled dough on parchment paper. Roll the dough out into a 12-inch wide circle about 1/4-inch thick. Spread the vegetable mixture out in the center of the dough leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the edges of the dough up and over the vegetable mixture to form a crust. Lightly beat the egg with 1 teaspoon of water then using a pastry brush, brush some of the egg wash over the crust. Transfer the parchment paper and crostata to a baking sheet. Bake until the crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve while still warm.

Adapted from dramaticpancake.com