How to make basic Savoury Pastry.

I promised you didn’t I?  Here’s the next guide to Pastry making. This time How to make basic Savoury Pastry. Give it a try. You’ll find you have it mastered in no time.

OK so, making this Savoury Pastry is pretty much the same as making the sweet pastry only without the addition of a small amount of sugar. You can use Savoury Pastry for sweet things too but I prefer adding just a touch of sugar for making desserts.

So, time to master this Savoury Pastry then. You can make so many things with this pastry.

Say what?

You don’t think you need to learn? Oh stop it.  Buying pastry is just not an option. Frozen pastry is rolled too thin. It is like a soggy wet biscuit. Look at the ingredients on the label. So many preservatives and it doesn’t even have butter in it. This is the answer. All good fresh ingredients.

Practise it a few times. What have you got to loose?

Look at this. It’s a baked tart case filled with Taleggio and a savoury walnut crumble. Want some? You could make it

The picture at the top is a Gruyere tart with Orange marmalade caramelised onions and sugared walnuts. This recipe is up next so make sure you practise your pastry making.

I always like to blind bake pies and tarts before filling them. This makes the bottom very crunchy and perfectly cooked. I have a very slow oven and no fan forced power. If you have a nice hot oven and you don’t want to blind bake first then a good way to cook a filled tart on the bottom is to place it on a preheated pizza stone. That means you should heat the oven up with the stone in it so it’s hot when you put your pie or tart in to cook.

See that crunchy cooked base?

How to make basic Savoury Pastry

Top 10 Tips and Hints

Don’t let these hints and tips scare you off. I am just hoping to cover every possible question or problem you may have on your journey to becoming a pastry expert. These are my own tips and they relate to the pastry recipe I am sharing with you.

1. Pastry can become tough if it is over worked. So be gentle and don’t over handle
2. Resting and chilling is crucial. Before rolling. After rolling.
3. Always use chilled chopped butter for this type of pastry.
4. Use a food processor. The ingredients will stay cooler. They will combine more easily and efficiently and better still quicker. I think I have said this to you before. Nobody stands making pastry by rubbing it through their fingers in a commercial kitchen. If it was the best way to make pastry then they would.  The best way for you to make amazing pastry every time is in your food processor.
5. Always measure and weight the ingredients.
6. The amount of liquid in pastry is absolutely essential. Too much liquid makes a tough pastry. It never ends up short and crispy like a biscuit.  It also makes it harder to roll because it is sticky.
7. If your pastry looks too dry and isn’t in a nice ball when you have finished mixing, tip it out of the food processor onto the bench and wet your hands. Press the pastry together, wet your hands again if you need to, and push the pastry and the dry bits together. This should be enough liquid to fix it. Follow the measurements in the recipe and this shouldn’t happen but there is the outside chance that your flour may be just a little different.
8. Practise practise . Pastry freezes very well and really isn’t a great expense
9. I like letting the sides of my pastry over hang when I blind bake pastry, this ensures that it doesn’t shrink or collapse. I like to trim it after baking, when it’s cool and just before I fill it. This is my preference, but you can trim before baking if you like.
10. Always save the scraps of pastry. The reason is that once you take your pastry out of the oven and take out the baking beans, if there are any splits or holes very gently plug them with a nice little piece of the spare pastry. Pop back into the oven and finish the baking. The patches will cook enough not to be noticeable and your filling wont leak out.

Once it’s blind baked if you have any holes or splits you can plug them up with pieces of spare pastry. Don’t worry  that it is raw it won’t be noticed once it is filled.

How to make basic Savoury Pastry.

Just remember don't ad to much liquid. Rest and chill. 20 cm removable bottom tart tn, baking beans and paper. A knife or long pallet knife to run under the pastry. This pastry makes a base up to approximately 28 cm

5 from 1 vote

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Servings 26 cm

Ingredients

  

• 300 gm plain flour 10.58 oz
• 150 gm unsalted butter chilled cut into cubes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 Egg
• 80 ml milk (enough to measure up to 100 ml when added to the egg)

Instructions

 

• C/ 350 F . 10 degrees less for a fan forced oven
• Put the flour, butter and salt into the bowl of the food processor and blitz till it resembles fine breadcrumbs,
• Mix the egg and milk till it measures up to 100 ml
• Pour it into the food processor and mix till the dough comes together and forms a ball then turn off and empty onto the bench. ( if you are sure at this stage it is dry and bread crumb like and you have blitzed it properly, add only a teaspoon of liquid. You can add it in- you can't take it out!)
• Push the dough together. It should be mixed enough however if it is dry and is hard to press into a ball, wet your hands and give it another try. You can work it together gently.
• Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes ( or up to 2 days). When ready to roll, take it out of the fridge and sprinkle a bench with a little flour. Start rolling from the middle outwards turning and moving so it doesn't stick. You don't need lots of flour. Run your knife under the pastry and turn. Roll out to the size you need. Then fold in half and lift into your tart tin. Try to make sure the pastry is not too thick. Thinner pastry is much better.
• Push into the corners of the tin and trim around the edges. Pop this back into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes or up to 2 days covered.
• When ready to bake put onto a tray and fill with paper and baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is starting to set and cook. The edges will be a little browner than the middle. remove the baking paper and beans ( check for splits and repair if necessary).
• Return to the oven again for 15-20 minutes or until the middle of the tart case is cooked and golden.
• Take out and cool then trim the edges. Cut outwards with a sharp paring knife.
• Your pastry is now ready to fill.
• Notes
• I like a very crispy cooked base and do this even if I am filling and adding a top. I just fill and egg wash around the top edge before covering with pastry, and pressing the cooked and raw together before baking.)