Thursday, September 6, 2007

Crostata (Italian Tart - from cooking class)

Category: dolci (dessert)

Ingredients
To make a crostata you will need to begin with the “pasta frolla”. The following recipe is standard for ONE large tart:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg and 1 yolk
• The grated zest of a half a lemon or a quarter of an orange
• 1 tsp of vanilla

Instructions
Mix the flour and sugar; cream the butter. Combine the ingredients, handling them as little as possible to keep the butter from melting (a pastry blender makes this easier). If it's more convenient for you to make the dough a day ahead, do so because it improves with age; it should in any case rest for at least an hour.

Once the dough has rested, butter a flat-bottomed pan about 12 inches across (if you have one elegant enough to double as a serving dish, use it), and preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C). Roll the dough out somewhere between a quarter and a half inch thick; work quickly, without working the dough overmuch lest it become crumbly upon baking. Set aside the cuttings to make strips or skip the lattice work.
Now, depending upon what you are making, your paths divide.

For a jam crostata you'll need:
-2 cups good quality fruit jam,
- lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon
-1 tablespoon of rum, vermouth, marsala or sherry OR more lemon juice or water.

Mix jam, zest, juice, rum in a bowl and spread on dough.
-Bake at 350 for 20 min. or until dough begins to brown. Do not overbake or the dough will be hard and the jam like glue!

NUTELLA crostata.
If you want to make nutella crostata bake the shell first after having pricked it with a fork all over. When tart crust is still hot spread your nutella and let sit for at least an hour before serving.

BUON APPETITO!

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