A crostata is an Italian

Italian cuisine

Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Etruscan, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Byzantine, Jewish and Arab cuisines...

 baked dessert

Dessert

In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...

 tart

Tart

A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with custard....

, and a form of pie. The jams that are traditionally used as a filling are cherries, peaches, apricots, berries. The crostata can also be blind-baked and then filled with pastry cream (crema pasticcera

Custard

Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce , to a thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used as...

) topped with pieces of fresh fruit; this is called crostata di frutta. A typical central Italian variety replaces jam with ricotta

Ricotta

Ricotta is an Italian dairy product made from sheep milk whey left over from the production of cheese. Although typically referred to as ricotta cheese, ricotta is not properly a cheese because it is not produced by coagulation of casein...

 mixed with sugar, cocoa or pieces of chocolate and anisetta

Anisette

Anisette is an anise-flavored liqueur that is consumed mainly in France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. It is colorless and, unlike some other anise-based liqueurs, contains no licorice.True anisette is produced by means of distilling aniseed...

; this is called crostata di ricotta.

Crostata uses a sweet pastry made by first combining equal parts butter and sugar, then mixing in egg yolks, vanilla, baking powder, and flour. To make an 8 or 9-inch pie, first combine 100 grams of butter and sugar. Add 2 egg yolks and mix in 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla and 15 grams of baking powder. Then add 200 grams of plain flour. Form into a dough. (If dough seems too dry, add water a teaspoon at a time untl desired consistency is achieved. If it is too sticky, add a little more flour.) Roll out about 3/4 of the dough and press into a buttered tart pan. Add the filling. Roll out the remaining dough and cut into four strips each long enough to fit across the width of the tart pan. Place the strips across the filling. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until the crust is brown and the filling is hot.