A Zero-Waste Recipe: Using Your Leftover Pastry

This crostata recipe has you divide the dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. After creating the base and the lattice, you might be left with a few small scraps from trimming the edges. In the spirit of zero-waste baking, don’t throw these precious, buttery scraps away! Here are some great ways to use them.
The simplest option is to make a few small pastry cookies. Gather the scraps together, gently re-roll them, and use a small cookie cutter to cut out a few shapes. Place them on a small baking sheet, sprinkle with a little extra caster sugar or cinnamon sugar, and bake them alongside the crostata for 10-12 minutes, or until golden. They are a delicious little baker’s treat.
You can also use the scraps to create decorative touches for your crostata. Use a small leaf-shaped or flower-shaped cutter to make a few decorative pastry shapes. You can arrange these around the edge of the tart or in the center of the lattice before baking for an extra artistic flair.
If you have enough scraps, you can press them into the bottom of a muffin tin cup to create a mini pastry shell. You can bake this alongside the crostata and later fill it with a spoonful of your leftover blackberry jam for a tiny, individual tartlet.
These small offcuts are made from the same delicious, high-quality ingredients as the rest of your tart. Finding a creative use for them is a satisfying way to minimize waste and get an extra little treat out of your baking session.