Recipe: Crostata

If you love a great fruit tart but think it’s a job best left to your grandma or the local bakery, think again. I’ve often noticed that restaurant pastry chefs will create works of art that are as complicated to make as they look and taste. Who has the time or ingredients to create those complex confections? I’ve created a traditional and satisfying Italian crostata that’s quick, easy, and perfect for breakfast or a satisfying dessert.

When you crave a bite of something warm and delicious, this crostata is one of the simplest recipes to manage, with only a few steps to prepare the dough, an even easier assembly, and no special experience necessary.

A typical Italian dessert, the crostata is often prepared with jam as its main filling. I created mine with a crust that offers hints of cinnamon and ginger, paired with a topping of fresh fruit and an orange marmalade to give it extra zest, depth, and a natural sweetness.

Ingredients for Pastry

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, cold, in chunks
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup ice water

Ingredients for Filling

• 8 fresh figs, sliced
• 3 apples, peeled and sliced
• 1 (heaping) tbsp. orange marmalade

Ingredients for Glaze

• 1 large egg, beaten, for egg wash

To serve (optional)

• Handful of fresh mint
• Vanilla ice cream

Cooking Instructions

1. In a food processor fitted with a pastry blade, pulse flour, butter, sugar, cinnamon, and ginger until the dough is crumbly. Add egg and water, two tablespoons at a time, and pulse until the dough forms a texture smooth enough to handle. Turn dough out onto a clean surface and work it until well combined, forming a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. Add figs and apples to a small bowl. With a small brush, lightly coat the fruit with orange marmalade.
3. Place a pizza stone in a conventional oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
4. Sprinkle the counter with flour and gently roll the dough out into a 14-inch circle, about 1⁄4-inch thick, turning the dough over and sprinkling flour on both sides so it doesn’t stick. Transfer dough to a lightly floured pizza paddle.
5. Layer fruit mixture (alternating fruit) onto the dough, leaving a two-inch border all around.
6. Make a slight fold at the edge of the crust, pinching the dough to seal.
7. Lightly dab egg wash around the border with your fingers. With a fork, make indentations around the border.
8. Remove the pizza stone from the oven. Slide the crostata off the pizza paddle and onto a pizza stone. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is bubbly. Slide the pizza paddle under the tart to remove it from the oven. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream and fresh mint.

Photo of Maria Desiderata Montana and her recipe book