Crostata

This delicious jam tart is perhaps the most popular and baked sweet tart in Italy. It is more usually decorated with a criss-crossed grid of pastry strips, but I’ve added a bit of romance here with a heart and flowers - also because I'm pretty bad at making the criss-crossed grid! Raspberry jam is delicious, but do choose any other jam of your choice - it will work beautifully.

Photo: Silvia Nacamulli

Serves: 8 – 10

Prep: 20 mins + 30-40 mins in the fridge

Baking: 40 - 50 mins

Ingredients

For the pastry:

200g plain white flour (ideally ‘00’ type)

100g caster sugar

Zest of a lemon

100g unsalted butter, chilled

2 egg yolks

For the filling:

600g good quality raspberry jam

Method

• To prepare the pastry: Mix the flour, sugar and lemon zest in a bowl, then rub in the butter with the tip of your fingers until it has the texture of rough breadcrumbs.

• Add the yolks, stirring and pressing it together with a cutlery knife or spoon, then quickly working the dough with your hands to form a ball. Shape it into flat disc. If you prefer you can use a food processor to do this, do not overwork the pastry or it will become tough and greasy. Flour the disc lightly, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30-40 minutes.

• Setting aside ¼ of the pastry roll the remaining ¾ between two sheets of baking parchment. Use it to line a 26cm (10”) tart tin. The pastry should be 3mm thick. Remove the top layer of baking parchment, and gently prick the pastry with a fork.

• Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan (340°F/Gas Mark 3).

• Fill in the tart base with the jam, spreading it evenly across the base.

• On a lightly floured surface roll out the remaining pastry, also to 3mm thickness, and cut shapes of your choice with a cookie cutter. I like hearts and flowers (as shown) but you may prefer to do just hearts or flowers or to cut strips to form a grid like a classic crostata.

• Arrange the pastry shapes on top of the jam and bake on a low shelf of the oven for 35 - 40 minutes until light golden. If at the end of the baking time, the pastry at the top still looks pale, move it to a higher shelf for an extra 5-10 minutes. The jam will look liquid and jelly-like but that’s normal, it will set firm when cool.

• Cool on a wire rack and wait at least 30 minutes before removing it from the tart tin.

• Serve warm or at room temperature.