The crostata is one of those much-loved homemade baked goods that comes in many forms and varieties that many Italians grew up with. These days you can find them in bars and cafés throughout the country, usually a version filled with apricot jam or blackberry jam, to be eaten with a cappuccino for breakfast or mid-morning snack, or after a meal as dessert. But there's nothing like a rustic, homemade crostata: tasty, jammy, sweet and so comforting you begin to believe it’s good for you. They make a great portable dish because they're not fragile or messy and are perfect to be eaten with hands.
The thing about the homemade crostata is that it is so incredibly easy, so don’t skimp out on making your own pastry or not using anything but the nicest quality, organic ingredients you can find. You can fill it with your favourite jam (homemade or otherwise) - this one here is raspberry.
The pastry recipe is adapted from Artusi’s 1891 cookbook (one of three versions he gives for this recipe). It's the perfect pastry crust for this sort of thing - slightly softer and "cakier" than a short crust pastry with a little zing from the lemon zest. —Emiko
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