Pasta frolla is the Italian version of pie dough, so if you ever make Italian desserts, you will need a good pasta frolla recipe in your arsenal! This recipe breaks down the basics of a pasta frolla into easy steps and guarantees a successful result every time!
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🥧 What is it?
It's a sweet shortcrust pastry dough made with eggs. It's used in so many Italian dessert recipes - it's basically the Italian version of pie dough. If you're making any sort of Italian tart or pie, there's a 99% chance you will need a pasta frolla recipe.
It's used in a classic crostata, pastiera napoletana, pastiera di riso (rice pie) and in fruit tarts. It's even used to make cookies, like half moon jam filled cookies, or simple biscotti di pasta frolla.
Depending on the filling, you can fill the pasta frolla before baking, like you would a pastiera napoletana, or after baking, like you would in a peach tart filled with pastry cream and fresh peaches.
📋 Ingredients
- Flour
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Butter
- Baking powder
- Lemon zest
♨️ How to make pasta frolla - step by step
In the bowl of a KitchenAid mixer, stir together dry ingredients – flour, sugar and baking powder.
Add the egg, egg yolk, butter and lemon zest (photo 1)
Fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the ingredients together on medium speed until the dough starts to come together, until it almost forms a ball, about 2-3 minutes (photo 2)
On a smooth surface, very gently form the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for one hour (photo 3)
Remove dough from the fridge, and cut off ¼ of the dough and reserve for a lattice top (if using). On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough a couple of times to soften it, adding more flour as needed (photo 4)
Then roll it out to ¼ inch thick (photo 5)
Butter and flour a springform pan or tart pan (photo 6)
Add the dough to a springform pan, cut and remove any overhang. Prick bottom of the dough with a fork (photos 7 & 8)
If filling tart after baking:
Blind bake the crust. Cover dough in parchment paper and fill it with something to weigh it down (rice, dry beans, or baking beads all work)
Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes – until the edges are golden brown. Let cool completely and fill with filling of choice (ie. pastry cream, fruit).
If filling before baking
Add filling to the prepared crust (ie. jam, grano cotto, ricotta etc). The baking time will vary depending on the filling. For a pastiera, bake at 325F for about 80-90 minutes. For a crostata, bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
💭 FAQs
The main ingredients in pie dough are butter (sometimes shortening) and flour.
A pasta frolla is made butter and flour, but with the addition of sugar and eggs.
Pie dough is usually flaky and buttery, while pasta frolla is definitely not flaky. It's more crumbly in texture (in a good way!) and obviously sweeter than a pie dough due to the addition of sugar.
Using a combination of egg and egg yolks is important for a perfect pasta frolla. Using only eggs will make the frolla too hard when baked.
The addition of egg yolks helps to achieve a soft final texture.
If you want to make your pasta frolla in advance, you can keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days. Make it up to the point where you form it into the ball. When you're ready to use it, take the ball of dough out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature before rolling out.
Yes! You can make it and store it in the freezer for up to one month. Make it up to the point where you form it into the ball. Put the ball of dough in the freezer. When ready to use, thaw it, and let it come close to room temperature before rolling out.
👩🏻🍳 Top tips
- Don't be afraid to add lots of flour when rolling out the dough. I usually have to add quite a bit to soften it.
- You will have to roll the dough out a few times in order to get it to the final consistency - this is normal!
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Recipe
Pasta Frolla - Sweet Italian Shortcrust Pastry
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour plus more for rolling
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp butter at room temperature
- zest of one lemon about 1 tbsp
Instructions
-
In the bowl of a KitchenAid mixer, stir together dry ingredients - flour, sugar and baking powder.
-
Add the egg, egg yolk, butter and lemon zest.
-
Fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the ingredients together on medium speed until the dough starts to come together, until it almost forms a ball, about 2-3 minutes.
-
On a smooth surface, very gently form the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for one hour.
-
Remove dough from the fridge, and cut off ¼ of the dough and reserve for a lattice top (if using). On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough a couple of times to soften it, adding more flour as needed. Then roll it out to ¼ inch thick.
-
Butter and flour a springform pan or tart pan. Add the dough to a springform pan, cut and remove any overhang. Prick bottom of the dough with a fork.
If filling tart after baking
-
Blind bake the crust. Cover dough in parchment paper and fill it with something to weigh it down (rice, dry beans, or baking beads all work)
-
Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes - until the edges are golden brown. Let cool completely and fill with filling of choice (ie. pastry cream, fruit).
If filling before baking
-
Add filling to the prepared crust (ie. jam, grano cotto, ricotta etc). The baking time will vary depending on the filling. For a pastiera, bake at 325F for about 80-90 minutes. For a crostata, bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
Recipe Notes
- Don't be afraid to add lots of flour when rolling out the dough. I usually have to add quite a bit to soften it.
- You will have to roll the dough out a few times in order to get it to the final consistency - this is normal!
