Lemon Crostata, a simple and easy Italian Dessert. Made with a flaky pie pastry and a delicious fresh lemon cream filling. This Italian Lemon Crostata is your perfect snack or dinner dessert recipe.
I wish I could say this Italian Lemon Crostata was made from lemons from my own tree, but unfortunately the Italian and I have absolutely no luck growing lemons.
Try as we might, nothing but, a couple of green leaves here or there and not a lemon in sight.After we got married we lived in my brother-in-law’s house while we were building our own.
Well my husband who is a tree lover, decided to plant a couple of lemon trees. And that my friends began our no-lemons-for-us-curse!
Six months after we moved to our new house, that darn lemon tree was producing more lemons than it was tall. I kid you not.
Needless to say lemons grow very well for most people in Italy, in fact I have a shopping bag full in my kitchen from our friends.
So what to do with home-grown lemons? You can always make lemonade but why not make this amazing, one-of-my-favorite-Italian-sweets: Italian Lemon Crostata.
A Crostata is quite often referred to as being similar to a pie. Not quite in my opinion, the dough of a Crostata is slightly richer and the filling is usually a jam filling, sometimes Nutella or Chocolate or in this case a Lemon Crostata. This filling is nice and lemony and creamy, made slowly stirred often until it thickens.
Italian Lemon Crostata
The other day a friend of my husbands came by for a visit and what did he bring with him? Yup two of his own just rooted baby lemon trees, those poor things have no idea what is in store for them.
Now don’t get upset, the trees don’t die they just don’t produce. But I am telling you that is going to change, I hope! So thanks to our friends for this delicious Italian Lemon Crostata. Enjoy!
Italian Lemon Crostata
Ingredients
CROSTATA DOUGH
- pinch salt
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg (room temperature)
- 1 egg yolk (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
LEMON FILLING
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 whole eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 3/4 tablespoons butter (melted and cooled)
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice from 2 lemons (4 tablespoons)
Instructions
- CROSTATA DOUGH
- In a large bowl whisk together salt, flour, sugar and baking powder, make a well in the centre and add egg, egg yolk and butter (cubed), mix together (you can also use a food processor, pulse until dough just starts to come together), remove dough to a flat surface and knead until it becomes a soft dough, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- PRE-HEAT oven to 350° (180° celsius) lightly grease and flour a 10 inch (26 centimeter) pie pan.
- Remove dough from fridge, roll 3/4 of the dough into 1/8 inch thickness to fill pie plate, the remaining dough roll and you can use a small cookie cutter to make cutouts or make strips for the top of the crostata.
LEMON FILLING
- In a medium pot whisk together sugar, egg yolks, egg , lemon zest, lemon juice and cooled melted butter, place on low heat and heat whisking constantly until mixture thickens (this can take a while, so be patient and do not raise the heat) (should be thick enough to coat a spoon really well, once it starts to thicken it will thicken very quickly, so be careful not to burn).
- Remove from heat, and fill prepared crostata dough, top with cutouts or strips, brush lightly with milk and bake for approximately 30 minutes, after 15-20 minutes you may have to cover around the top of pie crust as it tends to brown quickly. Let cool completely before serving. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Eliza says
I only have an 8 inch tart pan. What would you recommend the adjustments be for cook time, ingredient amounts, etc?
Rosemary says
Hi Eliza, start at 25 minutes and if the crust isn’t golden and cooked (cover the pie with foil if the crust is browning too much) then go for another 5 minutes. Let me know how it goes.
Stephanie says
Can I use prepared lemon curd a well?
Rosemary says
Hi Stephanie, sure that should work also. Let me know how it goes.
Maria Kember says
Rosemary,
I would like to make this . Can you please tell me how many grams in 2 & 3/4 Tablespoons Butter.
Thank you.
Rosemary says
Hi Maria, there are 48 grams for the butter. Let me know how it goes.
Maria Kember says
Thank you so much Rosemary.
Kathy says
This is absolutely delicious! I made 2 one GF & one normal. Both were delicious! I made them for a drive by family dinner due to Covid 19. All of my family loved it!
Rosemary says
Thanks so much Kathy, so glad everyone enjoyed it. Great idea the drive by family dinner. Take care.
Jackie says
THis looks amazing! Thank ya you so much for sharing! I love learning new Italian recipes! Can I sub the lemons in this for salted (cultured) lemons? I made some a while back and have been looking for recipes to use them in ever since!
Rosemary says
Hi Jackie, interesting I have never had cultured lemons before. Try it and see, I think it should work. Let me know. Have a great weekend.
Heather Becker says
Beautiful flavour and texture, was a really winner at an Italian themed dinner. In NZ we call the pastry “shortcrust pastry” and I managed to get the pastry into the dish more easily with this recipe. I used a large piece of cling wrap to cover the pastry in the fridge, then after 30 mins, turned it out onto a floured bench and placed the wrap on top, between the rolling pin and the pastry. I rolled it out cleanly, then scraped under the pastry (from the bench), carefully folded the pastry over the rolling pin, then placed it into the pie dish, trimming around the edge and re-rolling the offcuts out before cutting with cookie cutters as in the photo.
Brilliant result, thank you!
Rosemary says
Hi Heather, thanks so much so glad it was a hit. And great tips, thank you. Have a wonderful Sunday.
Heather says
I’m a newbie to baking so my crust didn’t turn out as beautifully as yours as I had some trouble with rolling the dough thin enough. But that wasn’t anything to do with the recipe, that’s my lack of baking skills 🙂 However the end result was absolutely wonderful. The lemon filling was divine and the crust was the perfect flavor. Thank you for sharing an amazing recipe!! I look forward to practicing and eating it again 🙂
Rosemary says
Hi Heather, thanks so much. When I first started baking it was the same for me too, you just need to practice. Glad you enjoyed it. Have a great day.
Carmen says
I love cooking and always try new recipes. Just wanted to say that I baked it in a 23cm flan tin and it looks perfect and filled nearly to the top for those who like a thicker filling. I also decorated it same as in the picture and it looks so presentable as well. Thank you for this recipe, Looks delicious 😋
Rosemary says
Hi Carmen, thank you, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great week.
Jennifer says
This looks gorgeous! Would a ten inch tart pan work for this recipe? And is it necessary the entire tart be brushed with milk before baking, or just the cut-outs? Thank you!
Rosemary says
Hi Jennifer, yes the recipe is for a 10 inch pie, and brush just the cut outs or strips with milk. Hope that helps and let me know how it goes.