One of the first things my mother-in-law Teresa taught me how to make is a crostata. It’s a sweet pastry dough and you fill it with whatever you’d like. We like to eat it with strawberry jam. She likes to make her own jam to fill in the dough. We like that too!
This time we made it with apples and strawberry jam. I love apple pie and I LOVE crostata filled with apples and strawberry jam. It is a perfect treat to have in the afternoon. In Italy they have lunch around 1 PM and then dinner around 8 PM. There is that long pause in between. A slice of this crostata and an espresso will hold me off until dinner at 8.
Apple and Strawberry Crostata
serves approx 6-8
Pasta Frolla recipe
300 grams (10.54 ounces)pastry flour
200 grams (7.025 ounces) unsalted butter
100 grams (3.512 ounces) sugar
1 whole egg and 1 yolk ( 60 grams eggs)
Filling:
1 cup strawberry jam
2 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and sliced into quarters
Place the apple slices in a medium sized bowl and squirt some lemon juice on top of them so they don’t brown.
Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour and sugar and process a
few times to mix together. Next add the butter and pulse a few times
until the
mixture looks like wet sand. Add the egg and yolk and process a few
seconds more until the dough forms (this should be about 5-7 more
pulses). Be sure to not overprocess the dough.
Dump the dough from the food processor bowl onto a lightly floured
counter. Form the dough into a disk and chill in the refrigerator for
about an hour.
baking the crostata:
(For some nice step-by-step photos on how to roll out the dough, check out this ricotta crostata I made last year.)
Preheat oven to 375°F with a foil-lined large baking sheet on middle rack.
When dough is nicely chilled, remove from the refrigerator. Roll out the
dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap into a 13-inch round about 1/8
thick.
Spray an 11-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom with baking
spray. Gently wrap the dough over the rolling pin and place it over the
tart pan; release the rolling pin and let the dough fall into the tart
pan. Press the dough softly into the bottom of the tart pan. If some of
the dough breaks while you press it into the tart pan, that’s not a
problem. Simply piece the dough together. Press the sides of the dough
about 1/2 inch up the side of the tart pan. The rim of the tart should
be lined with a slightly thicker layer of pastry than the bottom (about
1/4-inch thick). Cut off the extra dough from the sides and keep these
excess pieces to make the lattice topping. Place this tart pan in the
refrigerator for about 30 minutes (or even longer if necessary) to
chill.
When the dough is chilled and ready to fill, remove the tart pan from
the refrigerator and prick the pastry bottom with a fork a few times.
Filling the crostata:
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Spread about 1/2 cup strawberry jam on the bottom of the crostata. Place the apple slices in a concentric pattern on top of the strawberry jam. Spread the remaining strawberry jam on top of the apples.
Roll out the remaining piece of dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out the lattice strips. Place the strips on top of the crostata in a lattice pattern.
Bake on 375 F for approximately 30-45 minutes. You want the crust to be a nice golden brown.
Thanks for stopping by! Hope you’re enjoying my posts from Italy!
Cher says
July 8, 2011 at 5:43 pmLove the thought of using strawberry jam in with the apples. This does look perfect in between meal pick me up (or for breakfast!)
Have a lovely trip!
Marnely Rodriguez says
July 8, 2011 at 5:54 pmMmhm, this looks delicious and I love the combination! Definitely a perfect side to the coffee I am having right now! Thanks for sharing darling!
Alan Cooke says
July 8, 2011 at 5:58 pmI love rustic pastries like this and the strawberry/apple combination sounds awesome. It looks fantastic, too! 😉
@alanecooke
Magic of Spice says
July 9, 2011 at 1:29 amWhat a lovely crostata! Although they are typically sweet treats, I have only made savory ones. I need to try one, looks wonderful 🙂
Maureen says
July 9, 2011 at 3:13 amHow delicious is this?? I can't wait to try this myself.
Mari says
July 9, 2011 at 3:30 amLora, I don't blame you to be tempted. Who can resist this delicacy? Apple and strawberry together must be "molto buona". Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
Sanjeeta kk says
July 9, 2011 at 11:02 amLove the delightful Crostata, Lora. and apples & Strawberry combo is driving me crazy 🙂
Pretend Chef says
July 9, 2011 at 1:11 pmThis sounds like a very delicious crostata. I have yet to make my own crostata. I need to try this one. I know for a fact if I was on vacation I wouldn't feel guilty about any temptations. You only live once. I look forward to eating my way through the cities we visit. Enjoy!
Chef Dennis says
July 10, 2011 at 9:26 pmYou know I love Crostata in any form, but apple has to be my favorite, add some fresh strawberries and its just went over the top!!! Glad to see your having such a good time! (I turned the spell check off for this comment)
PolaM says
July 11, 2011 at 3:12 amOh I did crostata too! Yours looks much better though!
Alli says
July 11, 2011 at 4:57 amWow the combination of strawberry and apple in a pie makes my heart skip a beat! Love the idea of a slice of crostata and espresso in the afternoon!
Kathy says
July 12, 2011 at 12:50 amThis is just beautiful! Strawberry jam and apples sound delicious! So does crostata and espresso in the afternoon.
Sandra says
July 12, 2011 at 4:05 amHi Lora,
What a wonderful crostata, and so flavorful! Really sounds incredibly tasty!
Cookin' Canuck says
July 12, 2011 at 1:21 pmWhat a gorgeous crostata. It sounds as though you are having a fantastic trip, food and all.
Jamie says
July 13, 2011 at 7:06 amYou are right, when I lived in Italy I absolutely fell in love with fruit crostate and made one regularly. You remind me that it has been much too long! Hope your trip was fabulous (I am so jealous!) and have a safe trip home! Want to meet you this summer!
The Vanilla Bean Baker says
July 13, 2011 at 3:17 pmOh I love the look of that crust! Combining the apples with the strawberry jam sounds like a delicious filling.
Bestfoodies says
May 18, 2012 at 5:35 pmI have never made a crostata but am certainly going to try with your recipe. I love the idea of strawberries and apples together and as someone else said sounds great for breakast with my latte!