In days gone by, pasta frolla (pie dough) was rolled and filled with homemade jam.
There would be some with fancy lattice, some quite rustic with just the ends turned up.
My personal favorite is filled with fig jam. The traditional in Tuscany is blackberry jam.
Right now I have peach jam- filled Crostata in the oven. The house smells delightful!
This is a dessert that is so basic, so simplistic and so very delicious!
I make a batch of the dough and put it in my freezer so I am ready at a moment's notice
of friends coming for coffee or luncheon. It does not take long to defrost and I always
make sure I have a jar of jam in the pantry.
The pasta frolla must be very cold. Many recipes will say to chill for 30 minutes but I
have found that is not near enough time. The dough is still too soft and will fall apart. I
allow the dough many hours, even overnight, to get a proper chill.
You can prepare a free form tart with the ends rolled in over the filling or you can use a pie
pan. I use a French tin with a removeable bottom for my Crostatas.
You can fill the tarts with the traditional blackberry jam, or peach, apricot, raspberry.....
whatever suits your taste. You can also use Nutella, which my grandchildren love!
The dough:
1-1/4 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 C. granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
dash salt
2 C. all purpose flour
I put butter in mixer (yes! the mixer!) and then add the sugar. I then add the eggs, dash of
salt and, finally, gradually add the flour. Pop the dough out onto the saran, wrap it up and
give it a good chill. (there is no water in this dough! and it rolls like a dream!)
Fill the tart with the jam (or Nutella) of your choosing. Add some lattice strips. (I like
to brush some eggwash on the strips but be careful! They can brown very easily!)
Bake in a preheated 350* oven for about 30 minutes. The dough should be golden. The
jam will be bubbly.
Let cool and enjoy! I sprinkle a bit of 10-x when serving.
This is a peach jam filling
This is what it looks like with 10-x sugar sprinkled on top
This is a Fig Jam filling (my favorite!)
The classic blackberry jam filling from Tuscany
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