- crostata, crostata – rustica RETRO:
A crostata is an Italian baked tart or pie.
A crostata – the generic name for a jam or fruit tart – is a kind of mainstay of Italian family cooking.
Italians don’t actually bake a great deal – most often a birthday cake is a fluffy mass of sponge layered with custard and cream from the local pasticceria – but there is someone in every family who prepares the crostata for the occasions where one is called for; a nice afternoon tea, a family lunch, a picnic or a special breakfast.
Indeed, crostate are as much a breakfast food as anything else in the land of cakes for colazione.
A pastry ‘crust’ is essentially just a vehicle for whatever seasonal fruit is calling out from the market stalls, or begging to be used from the bottom of the fridge.
You can use jam you already have in the larder (good reason to always have extra jars of good jam on the shelves) or cook fresh fruit down ready for the tart.
I am constantly experimenting, and love good ripe fruit like plums sprinkled with sugar and just cooked down as part of the baking process, actually a fine way to get a really well baked crust as the fruit needs time to cook.
We made this at Market to Table a couple of months ago and the group decided that it was very good, and also agreed that a little whipped cream goes well with a plum tart.
If you want to see photos of this version they are part of this lovely account of Market to Table by Paola from Italy on My Mind.
crostata con la marmellata, simple jam tart
For short crust pastry:
250 g plain flour (or 150 g plain flour, 100 g fine ground durum wheat flour)
80 – 100 g caster sugar (light brown caster is nice)
125 g butter
1 large egg (or 1 med egg plus one yolk)
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Pinch of salt
Jar of homemade jam
The pastry can be made so easily by hand there is (almost) no advantage to puling out the stand mixer or food processor.
It can also be made in advance and keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge and can be froozen for up to 3 months.
Mix all of the dry ingredients and lemon zest together, then add the chilled butter cut into small pieces.
Rub the butter into the flour using the tips of your fingers and once mixture has the consistency of breadcrumbs add a beaten egg and mix well until the mixture comes together in a ball.
If the pastry is still dry add a teaspoon of water.
Turn out onto a well floured surface, knead until it has a uniform consistency, then form a block, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour before using.
Heat the oven to 180°C.
Roll out two-thirds of the pastry out on a well floured surface.
Marble is good because it is cold and helps stop the butter in the pastry from melting.
Lightly flour a tart tin with a removable base and line with pastry.
If the pastry tears or is not quite the right size you can patch and repair the missing bits.
Trim the excess pastry using the back of a butter knife or metal spatula.
Fill the shell with a roughly 1.5 cm layer of jam, making sure not to fill too high.
Remember that the jam will bubble up during the cooking process.
Roll out the remaining pastry and using a knife or a pastry wheel cut ribbons the length of the crostata and the width you prefer.
One by one place the ribbons of pastry on top of the tart to create a lattice.
I believe in slightly wonky rustic style lattice, but if you want perfectly threaded lattice this is a good video.
Bake for 20 – 30 minutes at 180 °C or until the pastry has a deep golden colour.
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