Crostatas: the Greatest No-Pan Pie You’ve Never Tried

First things first: What is a crostata, anyway? If you’re not familiar, it’s essentially a single-crust pie where the edges are folded in such a way that it contains its own filling during baking. “Crostata” is the Italian name for this type of freeform, open tart; in French, it’s called a “galette.”

But no matter what you call them or how much (or little) experience you have with baking, you’ll love how easy crostatas are to assemble and bake, with great results practically guaranteed:

• Never made a pie before? It can seem intimidating at first. So take the pressure of perfection off yourself and rest easy in knowing that the beauty of this newbie-friendly dessert is all in the “flaws.” (It’s not sloppy, it’s hand-hewn! You’re an artisan!) And as a bonus, if you don’t have a pie pan, there’s no need to buy one—all you need is a baking sheet, which you definitely already have, plus some parchment—which means crostatas are the very definition of “cheap and chic.”
• Pie-making pro? Even experts love a good lazy-day recipe from time to time! Add crostatas to your rotation of go-to recipes and let everyone know you’ve entered a bold new era, one where you’ve become so advanced that you’ve outgrown the conventional rules of what a pie “should” be and deconstructed the concept to its very essence. You’re an artiste! (Or maybe you just don’t feel like pulling out all the stops with a lattice top every single time you bake—but hey, that can just be between us.)

Now without further ado, here are our favorite ways to make your new favorite dessert: