Shortcrust Pastry Quiche Crust Recipes

SAVOURY SHORTCRUST PASTRY FOR QUICHES AND TARTS

Steps:

• Place the Flour and Salt in the bowl of your Food processor and pulse to mix.
• Add the very cold Butter, cut into small cubes, and slowly pulse to blend it into the flour until you get a thin crumb like consistency.
• While pulsing, slowly add the very cold Water a little bit at the time. Stop as soon as the dough comes together (see note 1) and transfer over a sheet of baking paper on your kitchen bench.
• Assemble the dough into a ball and gently flatten it with your hands. Place a second sheet of baking paper over it, and leave to rest for about 10 minutes.
• Roll the Pastry into a large circle (see note 2) about 4mm - 1/8 inch thick. Place the tart pan over it to check it is rolled wide enough to fill it.
• Place the rolled pastry over a flat tray and leave in the fridge to rest for at least 1 hour (or up to 24 hours).
• Remove the two baking sheets and place the rolled pastry inside the Quiche/Tart Pan. Gently slide down the pastry along the sides of the pans, then press it against the pan so that it sticks to it. Remove any excess with a small pairing knife or rolling pin (see note 3).
• Poke the bottom of the pastry with a fork, then place back in the fridge to rest for at least 1 hour (or up to 24 hours). Just before baking the pastry, place it in the freezer (for at least 15 minutes) to make sure the butter is extremely cold, almost frozen.
• Bake according to the recipe instructions - either blind-baked for 20 minutes at 180'C/350'F filled with baking paper and baking weights (beads, dried beans, rice etc...) or directly with the filling.

HOMEMADE QUICHE CRUST

Steps:

• In a food processor add the flour, salt, chilled cubed butter (and vegetable shortening) Pulse for 30 seconds until it resembles coarse bread crumb consistency. Pro tip - You can also do this in a bowl using a pastry blender or fork, (I prefer my fingertips) to cut the butter (and vegetable shortening) into the flour. It should look like a crumbly flour-butter mixture.
• Combine the egg with cold water and add it to the mixture. Pulse or combine for 30 seconds more. Pro tip - the mixture will still be crumbly but when squished with your fingers it will shape into a dough. So, don't over mix or pulse too much.
• Pour the mixture onto a work surface. Bring all the crumbs together and shape it into a ball. Then flatten into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 20 to 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll. Pro tip - If you flatten it into a larger disc it will chill faster and you will have to wait for much less time.
• Once firm enough to roll - roll the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Star with a tapping motion, then roll from the center out. Pro tip - if the dough cracks too much, means it's too cold. Let it at room temperature for 5 to 7 minutes.
• Use your quiche pan as a guide to know how big you need it. When you reach the desired size, transfer the dough without cracking. Gently fit it to the pie pan, especially in the bottom edges. Pro tip - To transfer the dough without cracking too much, I like to roll the dough onto my rolling pin then unroll it over the pan.
• Remove the excess dough and neaten the edges. When using a quiche or tart pan, I like to roll my rolling pin over the tart to cut off the excess around the edges. Then neaten the edges by running your thumb along the edges. If using a pie pan, fold the edges under and crimp the edge by forming a V shape with your thumb and index finger.
• Chill the quiche crust in the fridge for 15 minutes up to 48 hours. Pro tip - if leaving for a long time make sure to wrap in plastic so it does not dry out.
• Preheat the oven at 400°F / 200°C/ Gas Mark 6Pro tip- it is very essential that the oven is heated to the optimal temperature otherwise the crust can shrink when baking.
• Dock the chilled pastry all over with a fork to prevent the pastry from puffing up. Line the pie with parchment paper. Then, fill the center with pie weights or baking beans (dry beans) Pro tip - this is called blind baking the crust. We do this so that the pastry will be partially cooked before we add the filling.
• Bake for 15 minutes - then, remove the pie weights and parchment paper. Add the filling to the pre-baked crust and bake it further for as long and necessary - until the filling is cooked. Depending on the recipe you will need to reduce oven temperature to 350°F/ 177°C/ Gas mark 4Pro tip - most quiche filling will include a dry filling mixture with a custard-based liquid mixture.
• When baking If the edges of the crust get too dark, tent the edges with aluminum foil or a pie shield to prevent it from becoming too dark.Pro tip - Make sure your cover just the edges of the tart otherwise you will not have a nice color on the quiche.

QUICHE CRUST / SHORTCRUST PASTRY FOR PIES

Steps:

• Place flour, salt and butter in a food processor.
• Pulse 10 times or until it looks like breadcrumbs.
• With the motor running on low, pour 2.5 tbsp of water into the tube feeder.
• Turn up to high and blitz for 30 seconds or until it turns into a ball of dough. Initially it will look like breadcrumbs, then it will turn into a ball of soft dough - some random escaped bits is fine. If it doesn't look like its coming together at 20 seconds, add another 1/2 tbsp of water. Don't blitz longer than 30 seconds at most.
• Form a disc, wrap in cling wrap. If there are escaped crumble bits, that's fine - just press them in. Refrigerate for 1 - 3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan forced)
• Sprinkle work surface with flour, unwrap dough and place on the flour. Sprinkle top with flour, then roll out into a 27cm/11" round.
• Gently roll the pastry so it wraps around the rolling pin.
• Unroll it over the quiche pan or pie dish - 23cm / 9".
• Press the pastry into the edges of the quiche pan, patching up edges if required (if pastry doesn't quite reach top of rim).
• Roll the rolling pin across the top to cut off the excess pastry.
• Optional extra "safe measure" refrigeration - 15 minutes. See (Note 2).
• Place a large piece of parchment paper over the pastry, then fill with baking beads or lots of rice or dried beans to weigh it down. (Note 3)
• Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven.
• Turn oven DOWN to 180C/350F (or 160C/320F fan).
• Use excess paper to CAREFULLY remove hot beads, then return to oven for 10 minutes or until base is light golden.
• Remove from oven and fill with chosen Quiche Filling. Quiche Lorraine, Salmon Quiche, Italian Sausage or your other filling of choice.
• The pastry will not be 100% cooked, it finishes cooking with the filling. It's cooked enough so the crust will not go soggy.

FLAKY HOMEMADE QUICHE CRUST WITH BUTTER (SHORTCRUST PASTRY)

Steps:

• In a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients and add the cold butter cut into small cubes. Rub the butter and the flour together until you end up with a sandy/breadcrumb consistency. Add the egg and mix using one finger. Transfer the dough onto your working surface and use the palm of your hand to smear the dough and obtain a homogeneous mixture. You can repeat the operation up to 2 or 3 times. Shape the dough as a rectangle 2 cm thick and cover in plastic wrap.
• Chill the dough in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.
• Butter the tin. Line the quiche tin and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Pre-heat the oven to 170 C°/360 F. Line the interior of the crust with parchment paper. Fill with beans or rice and blind bake for 12 minutes. Remove the beans/rice and the parchment paper and bake until the quiche crust is cooked and is still without colour. Now the dough is ready to be filled with the filling of your choice and baked until golden.

BASIC SHORT-CRUST PASTRY

Steps:

• Put flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor. Add butter and quickly cut it into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• Add ice water and mix briefly, about 30 seconds, to form a soft dough. Remove dough, shape into a thick disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Bring to cool room temperature before rolling.
• To roll, lightly flour dough and counter. Roll out gradually, periodically letting dough rest for a moment before continuing. This makes rolling easier and will keep dough from shrinking back during baking.
• Roll dough to a thin round approximately 13 inches in diameter, then trim to make a 12-inch circle (refrigerate and save trimmings for patching). Lay dough loosely into a 9 1/2-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom, letting it relax a bit. Fold overlap back inside to make a double thickness, then press firmly against the pan so the finished edge is slightly higher than the pan. Refrigerate or freeze for an hour before pre-baking.

BRITISH SHORTCRUST PIE PASTRY

Steps:

• Combine flour, butter, and shortening using a food processor until crumbly. Mix in water 1 tablespoon at at time until dough is soft and pliable.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap; let rest in a refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before using.

RICH SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Steps:

• Mix flour and salt together in a large bowl. Cut butter into the flour mixture until it is the consistency of breadcrumbs.
• Lightly beat eggs together in a separate bowl; stir into butter-flour mixture. Add water and mix just until incorporated, using your hands to bring dough together.
• Turn dough onto a floured work surface and cut into 4 portions. Refrigerate dough for 15 to 30 minutes before using.

BASIC SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Steps:

• Sift 225g plain flour into a large bowl, add 100g diced butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Stir in a pinch of salt, then add 2-3 tbsp water and mix to a firm dough.
• Knead the dough briefly and gently on a floured surface.
• Wrap in cling film and chill while preparing the filling.