Italian Jam Tart (Crostata)

With the majority of us hunkered down at home, I know you’d probably expect me to tell you to do things like social distancing from your fridge, drink green juices, workout in your living room every day, etc.
And you should, keeping yourself healthy and active is very important, especially right now.
However, I also believe that it’s paramount to stay sane, light-hearted, and gruntled.
For me, that means eating something comforting, sweet, and delicious every day; such as a slice of this Italian Jam Tart (aka crostata).

Lately, my classic breakfast smoothie has been replaced with a slice of crostata which is a quick, crumbly crust pressed into a tart pan, coated with jam, and baked.
It keeps my belly full and happy until lunchtime rolls around. So that takes care of snacking, which we all know is the number one enemy when you're trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The tart is very easy to make.
The dough comes together on a whim in the food processor.

Then you spread it in the pie dish or a cast iron skillet (as I did).

Fill it with your favorite jam and add a little decoration

And voilà a perfect tart.
This crostata is perfect for breakfast, or can be a quick and easy dessert.

A flaky crust filled with your favorite jam, what’s there not to love?

Italian Jam Tart (Crostata)                                                                                                                     Print this recipe!

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.
Re-roll 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!

Nutrition facts

One serving (i.e., a slice equal to ⅛ of the tart) yields 262 calories, 13 grams of fat, 32 grams of carbs, and 4 grams of protein.