STRAWBERRY & PASTRY CREAM CROSTATA (PIE) - CROSTATA S JAGODAMA I SLASTICARSKOM KREMOM

Place of origin: Italy

I'm totally crazy about Italian Crostata, that wonderful pie with various fillings and a crust so simple and yet so rich in taste. Being 1/4 Italian and having relatives in Italy, every time we would go to visit while I was still a kid, I had to have at least one piece of Crostata. My mum has never ever made it at home. When I grew up I got this recipe from my Italian cousin who is a great cook. Really great cook. The pie crust is a base and the filling.... it's up to your imagination. As the first Crostata recipe on our blog, I'm presenting you this mouthwatering summer strawberry & pastry cream crostata. :-)

THE CRUST (PASTA FROLLA)

200 g cake flour
100 g butter

100 g sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp vanilla extract

PASTRY CREAM (CREMA PASTICCERA)

500 ml milk

5 egg yolks

app 80 g cake flour

100 g sugar (you can add more if you like it sweeter)

2 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean

1 lemon zest (1 medium size lemon)

STRAWBERRIES (amount to your liking - you can add more or less)

1. in a bowl, rub butter (room temperature) into flour till you have a mass that resembles bread crumbs. You can use your hands, hand mixer with kneading hooks or a food processor. Add sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and egg yolks and knead well. You will have to finish it with hands to get a nice ball of dough. 
2. wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest i a fridge for app 30 minutes (it will be less sticky this way)
3. spread a sheet of plastic wrap larger than your pie pan onto a working surface, put the dough onto it and cover with another large piece of wrap. Roll into a circle between those two wraps - this way the dough won't stick to the rolling pin or to the working surface and it can easily be transported into the pan.
4. remove the top sheet of the wrap and, using the bottom sheet, flip the dough into the pan, press with fingers all around and remove the wrap. Use the knife to cut off any excess dough coming over the side of pan.
5. preheat the oven to 180°C.
6. pierce the dough with fork all over the bottom, cover it with a piece of aluminum foil and spread some rice or beans over it (to prevent bubbles from forming).
7. bake for 20 minutes, remove the foil and rice (beans) and bake for 5 minutes more. Do not over-bake or the crust will be crumbly. It might look as it's not done, but it is. It's kind of a catch - the crust almost always looks raw (at least I think it looks raw) and you just want to bake it more and then you end up with an over-baked and extremely crumbly crust.
8. for pastry cream, beat egg yolks with sugar till light and fluffy, add vanilla extract (or seeds from the bean), lemon rind and flour. If it's too thick, add a little bit of milk.
9. in a pot bring remaining milk to boil.
10. remove from heat and slowly pour hot milk into egg yolks mixture, beating constantly with hand mixer (speed 1 so it doesn't splatter). 
11. transfer the cream into the pot (you can use the same pot you used for milk) and cook over very low heat or in baigne-marie until it thickens stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Be careful so it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom.
12. remove from heat, cover the cream with plastic wrap with wrap touching the cream (to prevent skin from forming on top of the cream) and let cool.
13. pour cooled cream into prepared crust.
14. wash and pat-dry strawberries, cut in half large ones and arrange on top of the pastry cream.
15. put in a fridge for at least 1 hour before serving. 

HINTS:

• instead of one big crostata, you can make small ones like I did (photos). Ingredients for the crust are enough for 6 small pies (6 x 10 cm ⌀ pans). As for the pastry cream, 2/5 is more than enough for 6 little pies. Meaning you will need 2 egg yolks, 200 ml milk, app. 30 g flour, 40 g sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and lemon zest (half small lemon).
• by adding some cocoa or melted chocolate to the cream you will get a wonderful choco cream & strawberry pie.
• you can substitute strawberries with some other fruit to your liking or just sprinkle the cream with chopped nuts. 
• you can make the dough in advance and keep it in a fridge for up to one day. If it's too hard when you take it out, leave it at room temperature until it softens enough to be rolled out.
• as the fruit on the pie is fresh and can spoil easily, crostata shouldn't be kept in a fridge for more than a day. Some people pour that gelatin-like stuff over the fruit (I don't even know English word for it) but I hate that artificial gummy mass so I never use it. :-) If you're not using fruit, it can last longer :-)

CROSTATA S JAGODAMA I SLASTIČARSKOM KREMOM

TIJESTO ZA PITU (PASTA FROLLA)

200 g brašna
100 g maslaca

100 g šećera

2 žumanjka

korica jednog limuna

1 žličica arome vanilije

SLASTIČARSKA KREMA (CREMA PASTICCERA)

500 ml mlijeka

5 žumanjaka

cca 80 g brašna

100 g šećera (ili više – po ukusu)

aroma vanilije (ili sjemenke pola štapića)

korica limuna

JAGODE (količina po želji - možete staviti više ili manje voća na vrh)

1. u zdjeli izmrvite maslac (sobne temperature) u brašno dok ne dobijete smjesu koja nalikuje krušnim mrvicama. To možete učiniti rukama, mikserom s nastavcima za kruh ili u multipraktiku s nastavkom za tijesto. Dodajte šećer, vaniliju, limunovu koricu i žumanjke te dobro izmiksajte. Na kraju ćete morati upotrijebiti ruke kako bi dobili kompaktnu loptu tijesta.
2. zamotajte tijesto u prozirnu foliju i stavite ga u frižider na pola sata (bit će manje ljepljivo pri valjanju).
3. na radnu plohu stavite komad prozirne folije, koji je veći od kalupa za crostatu, stavite na njega tijesto i pokrijte s drugim komadom folije. Izvaljate tijesto u krug između folija - tako vam se neće lijepiti za valjak niti za radnu površinu i lako ćete ga prebaciti u kalup.
4. uklonite gornji komad folije i, uz pomoć donje folije, prebacite tijesto u kalup tako da gornja strana tijesta dođe na dno kalupa. Prstima utisnite tijesto u kalup i uklonite foliju. Poravnajte rubove i nožićem odrežite višak koji viri preko ruba kalupa.
5. zagrijte pećnicu na 180°C.
6. izbodite dno tijesta vilicom, pokrijte komadom aluminijske folije i posipajte s malo riže ili graha (kako bi spriječili nadizanje tijesta pri pečenju).
7. pecite 20 minuta, uklonite foliju i rižu/grah te pecite još 5 minuta. Nemojte prepeći koru jer će postati jako mrvljiva. Tijesto će izgledati kao da nije pečeno, ali jest. To je mala kvaka kod crostate - izgledom vas zavara jer izgleda sirovo, pa ju prepečete, a onda se tijesto užasno mrvi.
8. za slastičarsku kremu, miksajte jaja sa šećerom dok ne postane pjenasto. Dodajte vaniliju, koricu limuna i brašno. Izmiksajte. Ako je smjesa pregusta, dodajte malo mlijeka.
9. u loncu zakipite (preostalo) mlijeko.
10. sklonite s vatre polako lijevajte na smjesu žumanjaka i šećera neprestano miksajući (u prvoj brzini inače bi moglo prskati).
11. prebacite kremu u lonac (možete u ovaj isti od mlijeka) i kuhajte na vrlo laganoj vatri ili na pari dok ne postane gusto uz stalno miješanje drvenom kuhačom (ili mikserom). Pazite da ne zagori i da se ne zalijepi za dno.
12. sklonite s vatre, pokrijte s prozirnom folijom tako da folija dotiče kremu (kako se ne bi stvorila korica) i pustite da se ohladi.
13. ohlađenu kremu izlijte u koru.
14. operite i osušite jagode, veće prerežite na pola, i posložite ih povrh kreme.
15. stavite u frižider na barem 1 sat prije posluživanja. 

SAVJETI:

• umjesto jedne velike crostate, možete napraviti male poput ovih na slikama. Sastojci za tijesto (koru) su taman dovoljni za 6 mali pita u kalupićima promjera 10 cm. Slastičarsku kremu treba smanjiti na oko 2/5 što je i više nego dovoljno za 6 pitica. Dakle, trebat će vam 2 žumanjka, 200 ml mlijeka, oko 30 g brašna, 40 g šećera, 1 žličica vanilije i korica limuna od pola malog limuna.
• ako u kremu dodate nezaslađeni kakao ili otopljenu čokoladu, dobit ćete odličnu pitu s čoko kremom i jagodama.
• možete zamijeniti jagode s nekim drugim voćem po ukusu ili samo posipati površinu kreme sa sjeckanim orašastim plodovima.
• tijesto možete napraviti unaprijed i držati ga u frižideru do 24 sata. Ako je pretvrdo kad ga izvadite, ostavite ga na sobnoj temperaturi dok ne omekša.
• s obzirom da je voće na piti svježe i lako kvarljivo, crostatu ne bi trebalo čuvati više od jednog dana. Ponekad se preko voća stavlja onaj preljev za torte i kolače, ali ja zaista ne volim tu umjetnu gumastu masu tako da ju nikad ne koristim. :-) Ako ne stavljate voće, i pita može duže stajati. :-) 

Mini Crostata & Little Strawberry Men :-)

Recipe by Linda