As you can tell from the pictures (photo number 2 below taken just after half an hour of the cake being out of the oven!), this crostata is always a great success! I baked it at 9 this evening to have it ready for tomorrow’s breakfast… but almost half of it is already gone! In case you have the feeling that you may have the same problem, I advise you to do one and a half doses of these ingredients in order to have enough pastry to make Bull’s eye biscuits as well!
I am afraid this recipe is in no way something useful for your diet plan, which is why you’ll find it in the “Guilty Pleasure” section.
SERVES: 6 people
KITCHEN TO TABLE: 1.5 hours
DIFFICULTY: 
INGREDIENTS
- Zest of a small lemon
- 80gr white sugar
- 300gr plain flour
- 1 medium egg
- 120gr Lurpack lightest butter
- ¼ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 500gr of Nutella (300-370gr Nutella for the crostata + some for your biscuits)
COOKING UTENSILS
- Mixing bowl
- One fork
- Rolling pin
- Greaseproof paper
- Cling film
- Round cooking tin (with these doses I generally use a 21cm one, in order to have some extra pastry left for biscuits!)
- 2 different sizes round pastry cutters
- baking tray
METHOD
- Mix the sugar with the grated zest of your lemon, add the flour, the egg, the butter and the bicarbonate and mix quickly until you obtain a dough
- Wrap your dough in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for at least 15 minutes
- Preheat the oven at 180°
- Place your dough on a greaseproof paper sheet over a clean flat surface, lie a cling film sheet over your dough (that will prevent it sticking to the rolling pin without having to add any more flour!) and, using the rolling pin, roll the dough out to about half a centimetre thick. Try to do it as quickly as you can, without working the pastry to much (otherwise it will become crumbly after baking)
- Keeping your pastry between the two sheets (the greaseproof paper and the cling film), move it on your cooking tin. Touching your pastry as little as possible, let it take the shape of your tin and, once done it, remove the cling film on top of your pastry
- Cut the extra pieces around the edge off (you’ll have to create a pastry case with the edges high enough to accommodate your Nutella layer) and place them back in the fridge. Using a fork make tiny holes in the base of your pastry
- Place your tin layered with the pastry in the fridge for 10-15 minutes (you can skip this step but it really helps your pastry to cook heavenly and become really crisp!), and use this time to prepare the lattice top for your crostata
- Take your tin out of the fridge and spread the Nutella over your pastry. Create the lattice top over your crostata and place in the hot oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until the pastry looks golden.
FOR THE BULL’S EYE BISCUITS:
FOR THE BULL'S EYE BISCUITS
- Preheat the oven at 180°
- Take out of the fridge the pastry “leftovers” and, as you did before using the rolling pin and the greaseproof paper, roll the dough out to about half a centimetre thick pastry.
- Using your biggest pastry cutter, create the round-shaped biscuits and for half of them, use the smaller pastry cutter to create a hole in their middle
- Place your biscuits on your baking tray previously layered with greaseproof paper and cook them in the hot oven for roughly 10 minutes or until lightly golden
- Once cooked, take your biscuits out of the oven and let them rest for 10 minutes; once they are rested spread a thin layer of Nutella on the bigger ones and cover them with the “holed biscuits”
Enjoy!
IF USING THE THERMOMIX:
IF USING THE THERMOMIX
- Place the lemon zest and the sugar in your cooking device for 10sec./speed 8
- Add the flour, egg, butter and bicarbonate of soda and work for 20 sec./speed 5.
- Wrap your dough in cling film and lei it rest in the fridge for at least 15 minutes, then continue as explained above.
