Recipe: Crostata di Frutta Fresca – FRESH FRUIT TART

Feeding the Family

Recipes

Published on Sunday, 10 February 2013 09:00

Last Updated on 24 April 2019

Monica Costa

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This Italian Recipe: Crostata di Frutta Fresca – FRESH FRUIT TART reminds me of the cakes that my Italian Grandmother used to make me when I visited. Really delicious! Just try it.

SERVES 8

Definitely one of my five a day! This is a great tart for dinner parties as the arrangement of fruits can always be changed depending on what’s available. For example, grapes and melon work well together. Add a few finely chopped hazelnuts to the pastry for extra texture.

For the shortcrust pastry:

225g plain flour

125g butter, chilled and diced

80g caster sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:

250g mascarpone

250ml double cream

1 orange, zest only

4 tbsp caster sugar

200g strawberries, washed, hulled and halved

200g blueberries, washed

200g raspberries, washed

mint leaves, to decorate

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Butter a fluted 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin.

2 Place the flour, butter and sugar into a food processor and blend until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. (Alternatively, sieve the flour into a bowl, then stir in the sugar and rub in the butter using your fingertips.) Add the egg yolks and vanilla and blend for no more than 30 seconds, until the dough comes together.

3 Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly. Refrigerate to rest, if soft. Then roll out and line the tin with the pastry. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes, then bake blind for about 15 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then remove from the tin and transfer to a serving platter.

4 To make the filling, combine the mascarpone and cream until smooth, then add the orange zest and sugar. Spread the filling over the base. Arrange the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries over the filling and decorate with mint leaves.

Keeping it local: Poached gooseberries and blackcurrants macerated in elderflower syrup are delicious arranged on top of this tart. And elderflowers are free!

This recipe was kindly donated by Catherine Fulvio, author of Eat Like an Italian Cookery book

TV chef and award-winning author and proprietor of Ballyknocken House and Cookery School, Catherine Fulvio, shows how to embrace ‘la dolce vita’ in no time, even in rainy UK! Catherine herself has embraced some Italian mantra’s:

Stay slim like an Italian: ‘Stop when you are full’ is a well-known Italian mantra and key to their status as one of the slimmest nations in Europe. Carbs, cheese and glugs of olive oil are all relished– but in moderation!

Work like an Italian: Drop everything for an impromptu trip to the local café with colleagues and never discuss work over lunch!

Shop like an Italian: Italians often shop twice a day for fresh, local produce for lunch and dinner, and use the opportunity to socialise with their neighbours.

Exercise like an Italian: Incorporate your daily exercise into mealtimes. The tradition is to put on your Sunday best and ‘promenade’ around town after a seven-course Sunday lunch.

Catherine is also cookery tutor and proprietor of Ballyknocken House & Cookery School in County Wicklow in Ireland and is married to an Italian!. Eat Like An Italian was published on 23 October 2012 in the UK, RRP £19.99 and includes amazing illustrations of well prepared authentic Italian food.