Crostata
My favourite thing to make and eat! Crostata is typically eaten for breakfast or as a morning or afternoon tea. This lemon and vanilla scented soft shortcrust pastry pairs well with your favourite jam or even with Nutella.
Ingredients 8
2 cups self-raising flour
1⁄4 cup sugar
Pinch salt
125 g unsalted butter, at room temperature, cubed
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 lemon, zested
400 g jam, of choice
Your new home
for cooking
Turn your recipe chaos into a plan for the week.
Browse 1000+ inspiring creator recipes
Unlimited recipe import from social media, blogs and more
Generate shopping lists and meal plans in seconds with AI
Method 14
Combine the , and together in a large bowl.
Using your hands rub the into the mixture until combined. Add the , and . Combine well with a wooden spoon. Once combined, transfer to a bench and knead slightly to form a dough and form into a ball.
Cover with cling wrap and set aside at room temperature for at least 20 minutes. This will make the dough easier to handle.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180* C.
Lightly grease a flan tin (with a removable base) with and then dust with .
Set aside ⅓ of the dough.
Cut a sheet of baking paper large enough to cover the base and sides of the flat tin.
Place the remaining ⅓ of the dough onto the baking paper and using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a disc that covers the baking paper disc. This will help to transfer the dough to the flan tin. Pick up the piece of baking paper with the rolled dough and flip it over and into the flan tin. Remove the sheet of paper and gently press the dough onto the base and up the sides of the tin, ensuring you press the dough into the corner of the tin.
Trim off any excess dough hanging over the lip of the tin. Add the trimmed dough to the reserved ⅓ of dough.
Spread the evenly over the base of the dough.
Roll the remaining dough out on the baking paper. Cut into 1 cm wide strips. Lay the strips 1 - 2 cm apart in a criss-cross pattern (see the photo).
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 20 minutes before transferring to a plate.
Dust with icing sugar before serving.
Jessica Timpano's tips
If using Nutella, loosely cover the tart with foil when placed in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes then remove the foil and bake for a further 5 minutes, or until the pastry strips on the top of the tart are golden brown.
If using a jam filling I use lemon zest. If I am making a Nutella filling I use orange zest for the pastry as the orange and chocolate flavours go well together. But using either is perfectly fine.
Paneangeli Pure Vanillina is found in most Italian delicatessens. It can be omitted if you can't find it but it really enhances the vanilla flavour. It's a great addition to most Italian cakes and pastries even with the smallest amount (sachets are only 0.5g).
