So Fi, here is a great recipe for shortcrust pastry. I made this last night for a chicken pie, and have used it for little tarts and it has worked well for both. It comes out light and a perfect balance of soft but just the right amount of crispy.
Pastry
1 2/3 cups plain flour
125g butter
2 eggs
1 2/3 cups plain flour
125g butter
2 eggs
- Place the flour & butter into the food process and blend until there are no lumps.
- Add the two eggs and blend until it comes together. If it doesn't, you may need to add 1-2 tablespoons of water....just until it comes together into a ball.
- Cover and set aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
I rolled this out, put it into my pie dish with some overhanging the edge, because it always shrinks. Then I pricked the base and baked it in a hot oven for 10 minutes. I filled the shell & topped with another piece of pastry I'd rolled out (there's enough in this recipe for a top & bottom) and put it in the oven at about 200C for 30 minutes. Perfect.
If you want to make tarts, you do the same in smaller tins ~ like a muffin tin, for example and bake for about 10-15 minutes, until they are just starting to go golden. Then you can fill them with any kind of prepared filling you like. Hot or cold.
9 comments:
I have to ask you--how do you roll out your crust? This is the hardest part for me. I finally learned the secret of making pie crust (food processor!), but I've yet to learn the secret of making my crusts look pretty. I just call them rustic and everybody's happy (I live in a house full of boys; they could care less how it looks), but as my dream is to one day enter a pie into the State Fair, I'd love to learn how to properly roll out a crust.
Thanks for any advice you can share!
I just flour my bench lightly and the top side of the pastry and use a wooden rolling pin that I inherited from my Great Uncle many years ago.
One tip I learned from watching a Jamie Oliver cooking show was that you should always roll straight out in front of your body, not off in funny angles. So you're always going perpendicular I suppose. Turn the pastry when you need to roll in another spot.
Otherwise I don't think too much about it I guess. I just roll.
Thanks for the recipe. I will try it at the weekend. I have never heard of eggs in a pastry recipe before. Very interesting.
Best Wishes
Lizzie
Thanks so much, Tracy!!! Will try this out today and let you know how I go.
This sounds nice and easy - now just need a recipe for something to put inside the pie (hint, hint) LOL.
Good luck with the pastry gals.
Lizzie, most of the pastry recipes I have at least have an egg yolk in it. I was thrilled to be able to use whole eggs!
Anonymous, you never know your luck!
Ok, I think that pastry is just not my thing. I don't know what I did but I had to add another 2/3 cup of flour because it wouldn't come together. It did end up tasting lovely, but I think this is not my strong point, lol!! Thanks for the recipe, I will definitely try it again.
Very strange! You did put in 1 cup plus 2/3 cup of flour? I always find I end up adding a little liquid, not more flour.
LOL!! Pastry and I are not friends either, Fi!
Hugs :)
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