Crostata in Italian

Crostata

The typical Italian crostata pie is practically a dessert pizza, consisting of a narrow layer of shortcrust pastry with jam or fruit, which is covered with strips of dough in the form of a grid. This pastry is prepared in a round shape with a ribbed or jagged edge, and the name crostata itself, possibly from crosta - crust, characterizes the type of pie - it looks like a narrow “chip” made of shortcrust pastry with jam.

The recipe for crostata is simple and straightforward, its whole essence is thin shortbread dough, laid on a huge mold with a side, like an apple pie. Then, depending on desire and mood, fresh or stewed fruits, ricotta or cream with nuts are laid out on the dough, jam or any preserves are spread, and finally, a special charm is a “net” of narrow strips of dough. All that remains is to bake the crostata and enjoy.

The pastry is very similar in appearance to the Neapolitan Pastiera - a delicacy on Easter Eve, a sign of rebirth. In general, you can often meet her on any other day. Made with ricotta, eggs, wheat flour and topped with candied fruit. Or a French tart (tarte) - a similar open pie made from shortcrust pastry. By the way, it is prepared in a very diverse way, with imagination - often it is completely barbecue.

The base of the crostata is shortbread dough, brise. It is dense but soft. Contains quite a lot of butter or margarine, and is very nutritious. This dough can be stored frozen for quite a long time, if necessary. It is perfect for shortbread cookies, cake bases or baskets for creams and whipped cream.

The interior for a crostata can be quite different, although I like cherry jam or apples stewed with sugar and spices the most, as they are prepared for the interior of a strudel.

Shortbread dough, if desired, can be prepared with butter or margarine. The entire cooking process can be divided into preparing the sand base, which can be created the day before, and actually baking. This way the baked goods are prepared slowly and come out perfectly. The convenience of preparatory preparation of the dough lies in the fact that, as a result, you can always use the prepared dough whenever it is comfortable. And baking the pie itself does not take much time.

Ingredients for crostata

Flour 3 cups (390 g)
Testicles 2 pcs
Margarine 150 g
Snow white sugar 1 cup
Brown sugar 4 tbsp. l.
Greenish apples 4-5 pcs
Starch 2 tbsp. l.
Butter 30 g
Salt, nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, Cointreau liqueur, lemon juice to taste

How to cook crostata

Shortbread dough must mature in the cold for at least 1 hour. But, what’s more convenient, it can be prepared the day before and used for baking the next day. You need to remove the margarine and eggs from the refrigerator in advance so that it becomes soft. In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of sifted flour, margarine chopped with a knife (it can be chopped with a knife directly in the bowl), chicken egg yolk and another egg.

Mix flour, eggs and margarine

Add spices and sugar to flour

Knead the dough with a mixer

Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in film and refrigerate

Greenish sour and dense apples

Mix butter, sugar and cinnamon in a frying pan

Knead some of the dough onto a baking pan

Spread the apple filling onto the prepared dough.

Form a grid of dough strips

Bake the cake at a temperature of 210-220 degrees

How to make Italian crostata

Italian cuisine is rightfully considered a model in the culinary world. Italians approach the issue of food and its production not only with great respect, but also with mastery. This is precisely why classic Italian dishes are wildly popular all over the world.

Lasagna, pizza, spaghetti, risotto, ravioli... There is no person who has not heard the names of these Italian dishes. And only the lazy have not tried any of them. But this is not the entire list. How about a regular Italian pie? Crostata is a combination of a base of shortcrust pastry, custard and various nuts, berries or jam. There are a lot of options for such a pie, and now we will share with you 2 recipes for indescribably tender Italian tarts.

Italian crostata recipes

Lemon crostata with nuts

For the test you will need:

2 egg yolks;
100 g sweet powder;
1 tbsp. l. lemon zest;
1 chip salt;
20 g sugar;
100 g chilled butter;
200 g flour.

For the cream you will need:

4 egg yolks;
40 g corn starch;
130 g sugar;
500 ml milk;
100 g pine nuts;
1 tbsp. l. lemon zest.

Manufacturing

Crostata with raspberries

For the test you will need:

2 egg yolks;
100 g sweet powder;
1 tbsp. l. lemon zest;
1 chip salt;
100 g chilled butter;
200 g flour.

For the cream you will need:

8 egg yolks;
50 g corn starch;
150 g sugar;
20 g vanilla sugar;
700 ml milk;
70 g butter;
1 tbsp. l. lemon zest.

For decoration you will need:

400 g raspberries;
15 g mint;
sweet powder to taste.

Manufacturing

Add lemon zest, sugar, salt and flour to softened butter. Start kneading the dough with your hands, then add the yolks. Knead the dough, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Place the dough into a greased pan with a diameter of 24 cm and low sides. Distribute the dough moderately over the sides, then make punctures in the dough with a fork along the entire bottom of the pan.
Cover the form with the dough with parchment paper and fill it with dry cereal or beans, it will serve as a weighting agent. Bake the dough for 15 minutes at 180 degrees.

After baking, it is best to put the crostata in the refrigerator for several hours. This Italian dessert is perfect for a formal tea party, and it is much easier and faster to prepare than any multilayer cake with cream. We are convinced that you will not remain indifferent, just look at this beauty. You can learn more about the manufacturing process in our video. Bon appetit!

Real Italian pie – Crostata

When you hear the word “Italy,” images of pizza, spaghetti, and risotto pop up in the minds of most inhabitants of the planet, like marketing photos. But you just have to look a little deeper into the culinary history of this wonderful country and it immediately becomes clear that Italy can be represented on the Olympus of desserts by crostata.

Crostata is not just a pie. For Italians, it completely replaces the cake in every sense. At the same time, the recipe for this pie can be considered the most playful. Just an hour and it's ready.

Crostata, frolla and something else

In Italy, fruit and berry pie made from shortcrust pastry bears the mysterious name “Сrostata” or in Russian “crostata”. It's not completely sandy though. For this dessert, a special dough called “frolla” is used. It is similar to sand, but very dense. The recipe for such a test has been known since the Middle Ages. At the moment, it is often used to make meat dishes and cookies.

Modern chefs have invented a huge number of variants of frolla, which differ from each other in composition and mixing method.

The characteristic feature of crostata is that it is served cool, which is why it is classified as an appetizer and is prepared in advance. Crostata does not require strict adherence to the recipe and gives free rein to culinary imagination. You can add nuts, creams and other additives to the main ingredients. The inside of the crostata may not be sweet, but it is the sweet cake that is popular. Although the pie with ricotta cheese is not inferior to it in popularity.

The main feature of an Italian pie is that it is open and covered with a figured grid of dough strips. Photos of these pies adorn more than one cookbook.

Fast, delicious, charming

Surely, the popularity of this culinary masterpiece of Italy can be explained not only by its indescribable taste, but also by the speed of production. Most Italian restaurants will not only show the recipe on the menu, but will also accompany the dish with an appetizing photo from the chef. So, you need to take out of the refrigerator 3 cups of sifted flour, ½ pack of premium quality creamy margarine, the yolks of a couple of chicken eggs, and salt. Now you can turn on the oven at 190 0 C and start kneading the dough. Everything is simple here.

The ingredients are mixed until it becomes a “wet” crumb. This mass must be divided into two unequal parts: 2/3 and 1/3. A round cake is rolled out of the larger part, laid out in a mold, and the sides are folded. It is acceptable to use different forms, but this will remove the recipe from the original. And in this case, if the decision is made to create a photo of the cake, it will lose its exclusivity. The smallest portion of the dough will go onto the mesh on top of the inside.

Now you can add a filler, for example, apricot jam, but crostata with cherries tastes best. The remaining dough is rolled out thinly and strips are cut out of it. They are placed in a mold on top of the cake using the lattice link principle. Now the pie is placed in the oven for no more than 25 minutes. It is recommended to cool it before eating.

The most delicious recipe

How to prepare the dough recipe is now clear. It is absolutely not necessary to order it from an Italian bakery. But the taste of the pie depends to a small extent only on the dough. Surely, the most important thing here is the interior. Crostata with cherries is a dessert recipe with an indescribable taste. Only the making of the inside is a special action. The cherries are washed, pitted, and sprinkled with sweet sand. The berry will give juice, but it must be drained. Mix the remaining pulp with 1x1 starch, sweet powder and a couple of egg yolks. A thick mixture can be achieved by diluting the mixture with starch and powdered sugar.

Also, fruit and berry filling or canned jam can be mixed with cottage cheese and the dessert recipe again becomes unique.

It is important to know that...

All ingredients for the dough must be from the refrigerator.
Before placing the inside, you need to pierce the bottom of the dough with a fork.
The baking mesh strips should not be wider than 10 mm.
The sides must be wrapped inside the pie before baking.
It is important to remember that cherries mix well with apples and even lingonberries. Crostata will only get better from this combination.
Crostata can be served with green tea or Italian cognac.

Video recipe for making Crostata

Italian gift crostata with chicken and potatoes

For similar tests, I have a small biscuit maker (d. 16 cm). Its size is enough for half the usual dose of the recipe, and the baked goods themselves come out in the same comfortable size, just enough to taste at a party.

Crostata with chicken and potatoes, the recipe for which I will give below, is an option when you can show off your culinary skills using cheap ingredients.

Shortcrust pastry for crostata is enriched with walnuts and grated cheese. The multi-layer interior of the pie is made from pieces of boiled potatoes, simply melted cheese and meat taken from chicken legs. Some of the meat is lightly fried in pieces, and some is whipped into mousse.

The crostata is decorated on top with a regular mesh of the same dough.

I can’t classify a crostata recipe as easy, but the satisfaction from making and eating it is commensurate with the effort expended.

Crostata with chicken and potatoes / Crostata con patate e pollo

Ingredients for biscuit maker d.22 cm

- for shortcrust pastry: weak flour 250 g, rice flour 100 g, butter 125 g, 1 egg + 1 yolk, walnut kernels 60 g, 2 tbsp grated cheese, 1 tbsp coffee sugar, pinch of salt; 1 yolk + spoon of milk for greasing baked goods;

-for the inside: chicken legs 600 g, boiled potatoes 450 g, just melting cheese 250 g, 1 egg, clove of garlic, sprig of rosemary, salt, pepper.

Making the dough

Chop the walnut kernels into small pieces, taking into account that large crumbs may later disrupt the formation of crostata parts from the dough.

Mix both flours and, together with the butter, rub with your hands into crumbs the size of grains of rice.

Add to the consistency a whole egg + yolk, a tablespoon of coffee sugar, a pinch of salt, walnut crumbs, 2 tablespoons of grated cheese.

Mix quickly, cover with film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Formation of the crostata

Divide the frozen dough into 3 parts: 2 pieces of the smallest size (one of them for the bottom of the pie, the other for the grid) and 1 larger part, created for the walls.

According to the shape of the bottom of the biscuit maker, cut out a slightly larger circle of baking paper.

On this circle, roll out the portion of dough created for the base of the pie. The thickness of the dough should be about 0.5 cm.

Place the paper with the dough on top on the bottom of the disassembled biscuit maker. Place the walls of the biscuit so that the paper is under the walls, and the edges of the dough form a side with the walls.

Roll out the dough for the pie walls. Better between 2 sheets of baking paper. You can create this in parts, later strengthening the joints with an additional piece of dough. See photo below for such space.

Connect the side of the pie base to the walls.

After the inside is placed in the pie, trim the edges of the walls to the actual level of the inside. The dough from the scraps will be needed for the grid.

I didn’t pay attention to this, so the walls remained high. To see how the mesh looks most beautiful on low walls, see the link to a unique recipe.

Roll out thin ropes from the outer part of the dough, lay it in a net over the inside and brush with a mixture of yolk and milk.

Making the insides of a crostata

Boil the potatoes in their skins in advance and cool them completely before using them.

Remove the skin from the chicken legs and set it aside. Separate the meat from the bones, dividing the meat into parts: that from the thighs and that from the drumsticks.

Beat the meat from the drumsticks in a blender, then add 80 g of water, an egg, salt, pepper and beat everything together into a smooth mousse.

Cut the thigh meat into small pieces approximately the size of a nut.

Remove excess fat from the skin of the legs, cut into small pieces and fry for 2-3 minutes in a frying pan with a small piece of butter, a sprig of rosemary and a clove of garlic.

After this, remove the rosemary and garlic, add the meat, cut into pieces, and continue frying for another 2-3 minutes, adding salt and pepper to the meat. Cool the finished meat slightly.

Cut the cool and peeled potatoes into thin slices. Literally use the same slices to cut cheese.

Shaping the inside

Place a layer of cheese on the base of the pie, a layer of potatoes on top, a layer of meat mousse and half of the fried meat.

Repeat the order of distribution of the ingredients of the inside.

Baking Crostata

Bake in an oven heated to 170 C for 50 minutes.

Cool the finished crostata completely in the mold.

Serve crostata as an appetizer. For the best taste, the crostata must be heated.

My comments

Frankly, I did not believe in the special taste of the dish, flattered only by the beauty of its execution and the availability of ingredients, but the crostata impressed me with the very first bite.

Based on the fact that crostata is made from fat-containing ingredients, it must be heated in order not only to correctly evaluate the taste, but also to enjoy it.

The liquid that appears on top during baking should not be drained under any circumstances. It will soak the cake later.

Of all the passages, one can only miss the frying of the skin, although it will give a certain contrast to the mixture in the meat layer.

The rest of the recipe is perfectly verified and reliable. It would be, as they say, a desire to cook))

Due to the use of chicken meat in the entrails, crostata can participate in the “Poultry Meat” FM.
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