Crustata is an Italian tart made with ricotta cheese and often jam. It has a filling of ricotta cheese, eggs, lemon zest, orange zest, and golden raisins. The filling is placed in a tart pastry shell and covered with a lattice top. An egg wash is applied to the pastry before baking to give it a golden color and tender flakiness. The crustata is a not too sweet dessert that is easy to make.

1. Crustata
Crustata is an Italian tart; some describe it as part pie, part cake. Made with ricotta
cheese, and (often) jam, crustata is a not-too-sweet dessert, easy gourmet food recipe.
Chef Joe Calabro’s version features the classic ricotta and eggs, but also lemon and orange
zest (finely grated peel) and golden raisins.
Once the filling is in the tart pastry and the lattice top is in place, brush an egg wash over it.
This gives the finished crustata a golden appearance, as well as a tender flakiness. To
make an egg wash, begin by breaking an egg into a bowl. If desired, add just a little bit of
milk or water to thin the egg slightly. Whisk the egg. Use a pastry brush to apply the wash
over the pastry before placing it in the oven.

2. Ingredients
Sweet Dough:
 1 cup milk
 8 cups sifted all-purpose flour
 1 1/4 cups cold water
 2 (0.6 ounce) cakes compressed fresh yeast
 2 teaspoons salt
 1/2 cup white sugar
Crustata Flan Filling:
 ½ cup Whole Wheat
 1/4 lbs. Butter
 2 cups Milk
 6 Eggs
 1 ½ Cups Sugar
 1 ½ cups Ricotta
 Zest from 1 Lemon
 Zest from 1 Orange
 4 tablespoons shortening
 2 eggs
 2 tablespoons melted shortening

3. Preparation Instructions
1. Sweet Dough: 3 Scald milk in a medium saucepan. Add cold water to scalded milk.
Remove 1/4 cup liquid; mix yeast into liquid when cooled to lukewarm. To liquid in
saucepan, add salt, sugar, shortening, and eggs. Add dissolved yeast to saucepan. Mix
well.
2 .Sift and measure the flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the flour, and pour the liquids
into the well. Stir with a large wooden spoon until liquid disappears.
3 .With one hand, mix dough in bowl using swinging rotary motion. Gradually form dough
into smooth ball, then knead in bowl for 2 minutes. Brush top with melted shortening. Cover,
and allow dough to rise at room temperature for 2 hours. Do not set bowl on radiator or in
hot place. Keep away from draughts. Allow dough to rise until doubled in bulk.
4. Punch down dough. Use dough for any sweet bread recipe.
5 .Crustata Flan Filling: Roll the sweet dough, when it’s at room temperature, on a floured
surface. Roll it flat, and then lay it into a flan pan, pressing the dough into the sides.
6 .To make the filling, mix wheat, butter and milk together in a pan, and cook it for a bit, then
cool it to room temperature. Put the wheat mixture into a large bowl. Add eggs, and whisk
them in. Then add sugar, and whisk again. Add Ricotta cheese to the filling mixture. Add
lemon zest and orange zest.
7. Pour mixture into the flan shell, and cut strips of sweet dough, to create a lattice over the
top of the flan. Brush an egg wash over the top of the pastry, and place into the over at 325
degrees F for 30 minutes.