Chef Anna's Italian Crostata Recipe – Try It!

Ok. If you’re only here for the recipe and not the amazing and outstanding and simply mouthwatering photography then jump on down to the bottom where you will find Chef Anna’s Italian Crostata Recipe as presented by chef Karista Bennett of Karista’s Kitchen my friend and fello DaVinci Storyteller for 2013.  Fine. Go ahead…make the jump…
N0?  Photos first then?

I’m not sure where she came from or where she went each day but soft-spoken Chef Anna was our cook while at the Casale di Valle there in that really ugly Tuscan landscape (go on, click the link and see how ugly). You gotta be impressed with how tolerant she was of my Italian.  When I couldn’t think of the Italian I just spoke to her in Spanish.  She just stared me in the eyes and shook her head, appalled. Her right-hand man Franco always laughed.  Anyway, one rainly afternoon she offered to show us how to make Italian Crostata so we aproned-up, grabbed cameras and notepads and headed to her kitchen.

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In a large bowl she lightly mixed the flour, sugar, butter, egg, lemon, salt and vanilla with a fork.

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Karista was just too excited by the whole thing, jumped in and took over from Anna.  She then went all in, using her hands to form the dough.

Says Karista: “Crostata is made from the Italian short dough called Pasta Frolla.  It’s a sweet dough that is commonly used in Italian pastry and most often Crostata.”

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When the dough was ready, she let it sit in the fridge for awhile while the oven warmed. Next, she divided the dough into  pieces and rolled out the larger piece  into a circle the size of the pan and then pressed it evenly into the pan.  A fork was used to pierce the bottom of the dough several times to keep it from puffing up during baking.

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Spread the jam….mmmmmm…….jam…..

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Roll out the remaining dough and cut into even strips with a pasta cutter or small knife.

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Put her in the oven and then eat it until you pop.  Check out some more Tuscan food here.

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My extremely lovely friend Karista offers up her version of this recipe.  Be sure to check her out over at Karista’s Kitchen for amazing and healthy recipies.

Chef Ana’s Italian Crostata Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 stick of butter (8 tblsp) chilled and diced into small pieces
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
Juice of ½ lemon
Pinch of salt
Splash of vanilla (optional)
8-12 ounces of your favorite homemade jam (I love fig jam with orange zest in this tart)
9-12 inch tart or pie pan
Directions
In a large bowl, lightly mix together all the ingredients with a fork and then using your hands, work the mixture to form a dough.
Once the dough is formed, wrap in plastic wrap and form it into a flat circle.  Refrigerate for about 15-30 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
Divide the dough into ¼ and 3/4 pieces.  The ¼ piece will be the lattice on top.
Roll out the larger piece of dough into a circle, large enough to fit in your tart or pie pan.
Now take the rolled dough and press it evenly into the pan.  Using a fork, pierce the bottom of the dough several times.  This will keep the dough from puffing up during baking.
Spread the jam evenly on the tart dough, leaving a little room around the edges for the top crust.
Roll out the remaining dough and cut into even strips with a pasta cutter or small knife.  If the dough becomes too fragile, sometimes I roll pieces into long sticks (just like when we were kids playing with play dough) and then use those long stick pieces to create a lattice top on the crostata.  As an option: let the kids get creative and use little cookie cutters to cut shapes to place on top of the crostata.
Bake the crostata for about 30-35 minutes or until the crust is golden.  Let the crostata cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

*If doubling the recipe, this crostata can be made in a baking sheet pan using the same method.

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