La Crostata
When I was growing up, my father directed the excavation of an Etruscan sanctuary on a hill overlooking the town of Murlo, about 15 km south of Siena. The meals were wonderful, and almost invariably closed with a jam crostata, made by spreading a thin layer of pasta frolla (a close relative of shortbread) over the bottom of a pan, topping it with home made jam, and baking it.
Simple country fare, but delicious. Since the 1960s Italian cuisine has increased tremendously in sophistication and the variety of pastries and baked desserts is considerably greater. But it's still hard to find something that's quite as satisfying as a well made crostata. There are two kinds. The jam crostata is simplicity in itself, and very well suited to family meals and get togethers. The Crostata di frutta, on the other hand, is made by baking the pastry, then spreading a thin layer of crema pasticcera (discussed below) over it, and decorating it with thinly sliced fresh fruit. They're quite refreshing, and if you use several kinds of different colored fruit and have a flair for design, the results can be very impressive -- easily worthy of an important occasion, and even a wedding.
To make a crostata you will need to begin with the pasta frolla. The following recipe, derived from Artusi, is pretty much standard:
- 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
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 decorative strips (if you're making a jam crostata) or shape them into fanciful cookie shapes.
Now, depending upon what you are making, your paths divide.
For a jam crostata you'll need:
2 cups good quality fruit jam, such as strawberry, raspberry, or plum. Baking the jam obviously concentrates it; therefore, if it's quite thick, heat it in a pan with a little water to dilute it. Also, if the jam's very sweet to begin with, the crostata will be cloyingly so; in this case heat it over the stove and stir in lemon juice to taste to temper the sweetness. Spread jam on the dough in the pan. Reroll the cuttings, cut the sheet into half-inch strips with a serrated pastry wheel, and lay the strips in a crosshatch pattern over the jam. When you've finished laying out your strips of dough, lay a thin ring of dough around the border of the crostata and tamp it down with a fork to pattern the crostata's rim.
Bake the crostata for about 20 minutes, or until the dough begins to brown. Do not let it overbake, or the pasta frolla will become hard as stone, and the jam will become as sticky as glue. A friend of mine's mother once discovered she had overbaked a crostata and told everyone not to eat it. But his grandfather wouldn't listen. Conversation came to a halt when he returned his slice, with his dentures firmly embedded in it, to his plate.
To make a crostata di frutta you will need to begin by preparing the dough and assembling the fruit, which should be varied, perfect in appearance, and perfectly ripe (for example, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, blueberries, peaches, apples, pears, kiwifruit, bananas, oranges, grapes, and so on -- the important thing is variety). Figure you'll need at least a quart of sliced fruit, and perhaps more (what you don't use will make an excellent fruit cocktail).
Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C). Roll out the dough as above and put it in your pan. Cover it with a layer of ovenproof paper and spread 2 cups of dried beans over it, which will keep it flat as it bakes. Bake the base for 20-25 minutes, remove it from the oven, remove the beans, and let it cool.
You will next need to make the syrup and the crema pasticcera.
Crema pasticcera, pastry cream, is one of the basic ingredients used in Italian pastries and cakes. It's not difficult to make, though it does require care and attention lest it curdle. Fernanda Gosetti, author of Il Dolcissimo, suggests you use a copper pot because it conducts heat better, and adds that if you make crema pasticcera frequently you should invest in a round-bottomed pot because its entire contents will be accessible tot he whisk or spoon. She also notes that the crema should be transferred to a bowl as soon as it's ready, because it will continue to cook in the pot.
Here's the basic recipe, which can easily be expanded or reduced:
- 6 tablespoons flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- A vanilla bean, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- The yolks of 6 very fresh eggs
- 1 pint (500 ml) whole milk
- A pinch of salt.
Set all but 1/2 cup of the milk to warm over a slow burner with the vanilla bean. In the meantime, lightly whisk the yolks in a bowl to break them. Strain the flour into the bowl, whisking gently, and making sure that no lumps form. Whisk in the sugar too, and then the remaining half cup of milk, keeping a wary eye for lumps.
By this time the milk on the stove will be about ready to boil. Fish out and discard the vanilla bean, and slowly whisk the milk into the egg-and-milk mixture. Return the cream to the pot and the pot to the fire, and continue cooking over a low flame, stirring gently, until it barely reaches a slow boil. Count to 120 while stirring constantly and it's done. (Note -- depending on your eggs and milk it may thicken to the proper consistency before it boils. If it reaches roughly the consistency of commercially prepared plain yogurt of the sort that will pour from the cup it's done).
Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool, gently stirring it often to keep a skin from forming across top.
As a final note, if you cover the milk after heating it and let it sit for ten minutes covered it will absorb more bouquet from the vanilla bean. Also, you can, depending upon what you are going to use the cream for, flavor it with other things, for example 2 coffee beans or the zest of a half a lemon.
While the crema is cooling prepare the syrup:
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- The zest of a lemon or half an orange, cut into strips.
Bring everything to a gentle boil and cook the syrup down until some dribbled from a spoon forms filaments. Fish out and discard the zest.
Wash the fruit, pat it dry, and slice it (the strawberries into halves, and the remainder as you prefer. Spread the crema pasticcera over the pastry dough, and then lay the sliced fruit over it in what ever pattern you find most pleasing. When you are done gently brush the fruit with the syrup and you are done.
Either of these crostate should serve 6-8, though this could be a gross overestimate.
A printer-friendly version of the above.
Crostata di Fichi Freschi
Winding down, for those lucky enough to live where really good figs are available, here is a fresh fig crostata that appeared in Sale e Pepe a few years ago:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter, broken into bits
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 egg + 4 yolks
- 1 1/8 cup milk
- 3 teaspoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons orange peel, cut into thin strips
- 1 tablespoon apricot jelly
- A pinch of grated orange zest
- A shot of Gran Marnier
- 8 figs
- Salt
- 2 cups dried beans
Using a pastry cutter, rapidly cut the butter into the flour, together with a half cup of sugar, the whole egg, the grated orange peel, and a pinch of salt, so as to obtain a uniform dough. Shape the dough into a ball, cover it with plastic warp, and chill it in the least cold part of the refrigerator for at least a half hour.
To make the pastry cream, whip the yolks with 4 tablespoons of sugar, incorporate the corn starch, and then the milk and the Gran Marnier. Cook the cream over a low flame, stirring gently but constantly (if this is the first time you are doing this, you may wish to cook it over a double boiler; do not let it burn) until it thickens. Blanch the orange peels three times in boiling water, changing the water each time, and pat them dry. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 360·.
Make a syrup by boiling the remaining sugar in a cup of water. Add the orange peel, and simmer it until it has become translucent; drain the strips on wax paper, and let them cool (do not throw out the syrup).
Roll the dough out into a 1/4 inch thick sheet and lay it out in a lightly buttered 10-inch diameter low sided pan. Line the dough with oven proof paper, fill the pan with dried beans, and bake the dough for 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile, wash the figs and cut them in half. Also, stir the apricot jelly into the syrup, and let it cook down for a few minutes.
Remove and discard the beans and the paper, and place the pie crust on a serving dish. Carefully fill it with the cream, and then lay out the figs, inner side up, in a decorative pattern. Sprinkle them with the candied orange peel, brush the fruit with the syrup, and let the crostata cool.
Serves 4-6.
Preparation time: about 2 hours.
A printer-friendly version of this recipe.
In closing, here's another fruit crostata recipe off the Net:
- A Plum &
Raspberry Crostata
Transcribed from the Baker's Dozen.
Good Food &
Drink,
Kyle Phillips
PS -- if you'd like to be kept abreast of what's happening on this site, and of what's going on in the world of Italian Cuisine and travel, sign up for my newsletter! Or, if you have a general Italian food or travel-related question or comment, post it on the Bulletin Board.
Previous Features
The
Recipe Index
The on-site recipes
mentioned above were drawn from a number of sources. Translations & photos
© Kyle Phillips.
