plum delicious!

i confess that i have not been cooking much on wednesdays or any other day of the week for that matter. we have had lots of food on the run &, thanks to vacations, somebody else cooking (& serving & cleaning up!). now i do miss la mia cucina much & so when the good Dr. N. sent some of his home-grown plums my way this week (i love you, Dr. N.!), i knew it was a sign to turn on the oven again. after a few days of dwelling on what to do with the amount of delectable fruit (really too much to snack on outright), i decided a plum pie was in order...actually, 2! one to keep & one to share with our kind neighbors who 'babysit' my deck gardens while we travel.

plum pie was not something of my childhood, nor have i ever seen it locally in our stores or restaurants, but i did stumble upon a recipe for it in an italian cookbook i found in a thrift store several years ago...La Dolce Vita by Michele Scicolone. i love this book & find her recipes very true to italian form. but the plum pie, or torta di susine...well, i don't know, but the idea was intriguing enough for me to try it. her dough is a basic pasta frolla...quite a bit different from my typical Amish recipe for pie crust. but i found it to be a perfect compliment to the tangy sweet plum filling. i did vary her recipe a bit because i wanted a crumble top~ don't ask me why. she simply uses the pasta frolla in a lattice pattern over the fruit filling. boyworld found this pie quite satisfying & so do i.Torta di Susine

for the crust...

*combine 3 c. flour, 3/4 c. sugar, 2 t. baking powder, zest from 1 lemon, 1/2 t. salt & blend well with a pastry blender (or fork).

*cut 12 T. softened butter into the flour mix until it resembles coarse crumbs.

*mix together 1 egg, 1 egg yolk & 1 1/2 t. vanilla...then add to flour mix just until a dough forms.

*divide the dough into 2 disks, wrap in plastic & chill for at least 1 hour.

preheat oven to 350.

for the filling...

*clean & slice 2-3 pounds ripe plums. toss plums together with 1/2 c. sugar (may need to adjust based on the sweetness of the plums), 1/2 t. cinnamon, & 1 T. fresh lemon juice.

roll out the 2 pie crust disks & fit each into a pie pan...divide the plum filling & pour into the prepared crusts...dot each pie with 1/2 t. butter.

for the crumble topping...

*combine 1/2 c. flour, 1/2 c. oats, 1 c. brown sugar, 1/2 t. cinnamon...cut in 1/4 c. cold butter with a pastry cutter until it forms coarse crumbs...divide & sprinkle over each pie.

bake for 1 hour or until the pastry is golden brown & the plum juices are bubbling. enjoy!!