ITALIAN PASTA FROLLA RECIPE

Pasta frolla is Italy’s classic sweet shortcrust pastry.

It’s the dough behind crostate, jam tarts, fruit pies, cookies and countless pastries you’ll find in Italian bakeries.

Made with butter, egg yolks, flour and sugar, it’s wonderfully rich yet delicate, crisp but never dry.

Master this dough once, and you’ll unlock an entire world of Italian desserts.

Italian pasta frolla recipe
Italian pasta frolla and Nutella crostata

WHAT IS PASTA FROLLA USED FOR?

In Italy, pasta frolla is one of the first pastry doughs children learn to make.

Its most famous use is crostata, the beloved Italian tart filled with jam, pastry cream, ricotta—or, in many modern homes, Nutella.

Any leftover dough never goes to waste.

We cut it into cookies, decorate the tart with lattice strips or playful shapes, and bake everything together.

It’s one of those recipes that naturally invites people into the kitchen.

Italian pasta frolla recipe #gourmetproject #italianrecipe
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Italian pasta frolla

Author Claudia Rinaldi

Ingredients

  • 10.6 oz 0 flour 300 gr
  • 5.3 oz butter fridge-cold -150 gr
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • 5.3 oz confectionary sugar 150 gr
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • 1 vanilla bean

Instructions

  1. Place butter (cut in pieces), sugar and honey in the stand mixer and mix, (low/medium speed – kneading hook on).
  2. Mix egg yolks and salt in a cup, and pour them in the mixer bowl. Mix a few seconds.
  3. Carve the vanilla bean and add the beans and the lemon zest to the bowl. Again, mix a few seconds.
  4. Sift the flour twice and add it to the bowl.
  5. Mix the dough for a few seconds, just the time to get a dough that won’t stick to your hands.
  6. Cover the bowl with plastic and refrigerate it for 2 hours.
  7. Roll out the dough and cut it out depending on your recipe.
  8. Display it on a tray or cake mold and refrigerate it 10 minutes more.
  9. Preheat oven to 190°C (370°F).
  10. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
  11. If you are making crostata you should riddle the base with a fork, add jam or Nutella, and bake.
  12. For a nice border I cut out leftovers with cookie cutters. In a very romantic way, this time.

A DOUGH, COUNTLESS DESSERTS

Once your pasta frolla is ready, the possibilities are almost endless.

Fill it with homemade jam for a traditional crostata.

Use pastry cream and fresh fruit for an elegant dessert.

Or embrace a favorite of many Italian families: a generous layer of Nutella.

Personally, one of my guilty pleasures is combining both pastry cream and Nutella in the same crostata.

Some decisions simply don’t need to be rational.

Enjoy your pasta frolla!

Claudia