Christmas Crostata
One of Italy’s most typical home baked goods is the crostata alla marmelatta, or Jam tart. Eaten year round, this dessert is most commonly made with home made jam or marmalade. The classic crostata crust has a criss-cross pattern, but to make this delicious dessert more festive for the holidays, decorative cookie cutters add a nice touch. All purpose flour can surely be used, yet, this dessert really shines with farro flour (also called Emmer) which adds a nice nutty flavor and balances out the sweetness.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with the paddle attachment, add the sugar, butter and lemon zest. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Now add the flour, baking powder and salt; mix until combined.
Remove the dough and place it on a floured work surface. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Flour a work space. Butter and flour a 6 inch pie plate or line it with parchment paper. Roll out the dough to 1/16 of an inch (5mm). Fit the rolled out dough in the pie plate and with kitchen scissors cut off the overhanging dough. Pierce the bottom of the dough with a fork many times then evenly distribute the jam or marmalade. Refrigerate
Roll out the extra dough again and cut into traditional stripes to create a criss-cross crust pattern or use cookie cutters. Keep rolling out the dough and cutting with cookie cutters until all the dough has been utilized.
Take the pie plate out of the refrigerator and arrange the strips or cookie cutter shapes on top. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Cut into slices and serve for breakfast or dessert. Buon appetito!
