A sample of the fruit tart the students made. (Image courtesy of Graham Gordon Ramsay.) In this lesson, you will learn:
How to prepare:
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Lesson 12
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.
Lezione Numero Dodici/Lesson Number 12
Watch a video:
Lesson 12, Part 1: Opening lecture and ingredients
Andare a Fare la Spesa/To Go and Do the Shopping
Benissimo! By now you can cook a full Italian meal … but how about grocery shopping?
Andare a fare la spesa literally means “to go to do the shopping.”
Let’s conjugate the indicative present of the irr. verb andare:
(io) vado
(tu) vai
(lui/lei) va
(noi) andiamo
(voi) andate
(loro) vanno
So, quando andate a fare la spesa in Italia, you have many choices:
- you can go al supermercato
- to a mercato or a small alimentari or specialty store
- In any case you should keep in mind that i negozi chiudono presto/the stores close early, usually by 8 pm or earlier e molti negozi sono chiusi/are closed/la domenica.
- The smaller stores have shorter opening times, and they may be closed for a few hours il pomeriggio. It is better to check!
Se vai al supermercato/grocery storethere are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- Hai bisogno di uno o due euro per prendere/to take il carrello/the cart.
- Non toccare/do not touch la frutta e la verdura, they provide disposable plastic gloves.
- Devi pesare/[you] must weigh la frutta e la verdura con la bilancia.
- Devi mettere/to put) la spesa nel sacchetto (or borsina)/plastic bag da sola/o/on your own_e devi pagare_/to pay per i sacchetti (pochi centesimi).
Al supermercato ci sono molti reparti/sectors:
- panificio = bakery
- reparto formaggi e salumeria = cheese and cold cuts area
- macelleria= butcher’s shop
- pescheria=fish shop
If you ask for 100 g of something, you may say one etto (short for ettogrammo) instead.
100 grammi = 1 etto
E.g. Quanto costa un etto di prosciutto?/How much does one etto of prosciutto cost?
1 chilogrammo = 1 chilo
E.g. Vorrei un chilo di mele, per favore. Quanto costano?
If you prefer to try the smaller shops, you will need to go from the alimentari/small grocery shop, usually more expensive to:
- il panificio
- il macellaio
- il fruttivendolo/fruit shop
- la pescheria.
It can be fun to find some local products.
Ma se vai a fare la spesa in Italia, do no miss il mercato del paese o del quartiere/the open air market of the town or of the neighborhood. It is usually once per settimana, in the morning and it is a full immersion in smells, noises, and flavors.
Remember: you can always ask to try/taste/provare something before you buy it and do not hesitate to haggle for everything.
Buon divertimento!
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Spring
2012
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