Watch two videos:
Lesson 12, Part 2: Cooking Instruction
Lesson 12, Part 3: Closing Lecture
This Italian classic is more difficult to describe than to bake =)
A photo of a crostata that still needs a few minutes in the oven.
(Image courtesy of Graham Ramsay).
La Crostata/Tart
Ingredienti
- Pasta frolla/a basic dough [Recipe for la pasta frolla (PDF)]
- One jar/vasetto (literally “little cute vase”) of your favorite jam or Nutella
Procedimento
- Riscalda il forno a 180 degrees C (warm up the oven at 350 degrees F).
- Prepare a batch of pasta frolla.
- Cut a piece of carta da forno/parchment paper the size of your pie pan.
- Flatten 3/4 of the pasta frolla on a flat surface dusted with flour and transfer it into the pie pan. Use your hands to press the dough into the mold (it should be about 0.5 cm = 1/5" thick) and trim the excess dough.
- Prick the dough con una forchetta/with a fork.
- Spread the jam or nutella evenly.
- Flatten the rest of the dough and cut it in strips that you will arrange on top of the crostata, in an open lattice pattern (see the photo above).
- Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
_Torta o Crostata di Frutta_/Pie or Fruit Tart
Ingredienti
- Pasta frolla
- Crema pasticcera/pastry cream [Recipe for crema pasticcera (PDF)]
- La tua frutta preferita (your favorite fruit, e.g. berries, grapes, mandarines, kiwi, banana)
We used:
- Una banana
- Due kiwi
- More/blackberries
- Fragole/strawberries
- Uva/grapes
Other common berries: lamponi/raspberries, mirtilli/blueberries, ribes/red currants.
Procedimento
Riscalda il forno a 180 C (warm up the oven at 350 F)
- Prepare a batch of pasta frolla.
- Cut a piece of carta da forno/parchment paper the size of your pie pan.
- Flatten the pasta frolla on a flat surface dusted with flour and transfer it into the pie pan. Use your hands to press the dough into the mold (it should be about 0.5 cm = 1/5" thick) and trim the excess dough.
- Prick the dough con una forchetta/with a fork.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Once it is ready, let it cool down.
- In the meantime prepare a batch of crema pasticcera and let it cool down.
- Spread the crema pasticcera evenly.
- Decorate with the fruit (washed and cut).
Commenti e varianti/Comments and variations:
When the pie crust is ready, you can spread a thin layer of melted dark chocolate and let it cool before you spread the crema pasticcera.
If you prepare it in advance, you may want to mix the cut fruit with lemon juice, so it does not blacken, and top the torta with unflavored gelatin.
