Italian Jam Tart (Crostata)

Italian Jam Tart (Crostata)

Note: any type of jam can be used to make this tart, but my favorites are apricot, raspberry, blueberry, and cherry jam.

Ingredients

Serves 8 big slices

1 ⅔ cups flour (I used a mix of whole-wheat flour and all-purpose flour in equal proportions)

¼ teaspoon baking powder

⅛ teaspoon salt

½ cup / 1 stick / 110 gr butter, cold from the fridge

½ cup / 100 gr sugar (I used brown sugar)

1 egg

1 egg yolk

Zest of one lemon (only the yellow part of the rind)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup of your favorite jam (I used cherry for the one pictured here)

Directions

Place flour, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Add the cold cubed butter.

Pulse 3 times with three counts per pulse, until the butter pieces are the size of small peas.

Add sugar, egg, egg yolk, lemon zest, and vanilla extract.

Let the food processor run until the dough comes together (the food processor will start making a louder sound when this happens.)

Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (1 hour best.)

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and place a rack in the middle. Grease and flour a 9-inch pie dish, tart pan or a cast iron skillet.

Remove the dough from the fridge and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Remove about ⅛ of the dough and set aside.

Knead the remaining dough a couple of times to soften it up a little. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about ¼-inch thick. You want to do this quickly, without working the dough too much otherwise it becomes crumbly after baking.

Transfer rolled dough to the prepared pie dish. Don't worry if the dough breaks, you can easily patch these tears up once you've lined the dish.

Press down gently on the bottom and sides, then trim off any excess dough.

Use a fork to poke a few holes in the dough, then spread the jam using a spatula.

Reroll the extra dough, and cut into ½-inch strips and lay them over the jam in a cross-hatch pattern.

Bake in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven, let cool completely, then transfer to a plate, slice and enjoy!