Name: Roman Lattice-Topped Apple Tart (Crostata di Mele alla Romana)
Yield: One 12-inch-diameter tart, about 16 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 3¼ cups all-purpose flour; 3 pounds Granny Smith or other tart apples, peeled, halved, cored, and sliced; ½ cup sugar; ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon; 2 tablespoons dark rum; 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cold, but into 12 pieces; 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest; 1½ teaspoons baking powder; 2 tablespoons butter; Egg wash: 1 egg well beaten with a pinch of salt; 2 large eggs; 3 large egg yolks; ¾ teaspoon salt

Preparation info

One 12 inch -diameter tart, about
16
servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

A Baker's Tour

By Nick Malgieri

Published 2005

About

In Italy, a crostata is a fairly thin tart, usually with a lattice top crust. This one, as is typical, is assembled entirely free-form on a cookie sheet, eliminating the need for a special pan to bake it in.

I first noticed tarts like this one in Rome when I was traveling there in the late 1980s. It was early May, and all the pastry shops were filled with a sour cherry version called crostata di visciole, the name applied to a local tangy sour cherry. I gave a recipe for that