I love the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks dearly because they’re practical and very well thought out recipes.  I finally decided to make the apple crostata on the list.  This is BETTER than pie and I make a mean pie. In fact, I’m just going to go ahead and say this is the best damn thing I’ve ever made.  I’ve been perfecting the pie crust for years and years and the culmination finally came down to this recipe. I’m ready to die. Cold butter and a hot oven is the trick.  I normally use a food processor to make pie crusts but it’s heavy and cumbersome for just one crust so I used an old fashioned pastry blender instead. I brushed one half with homemade blackberry jam mixed with a few tablespoons of cognac. My god it’s good.  And thank goodness for silplat, otherwise I’d be scrubbing my pan all night long.