Make Basic shortcrust pastry

Nothing beats the taste and texture of home-made pastry, and paired with some of the season’s best fruits and vegetables, you have a winning combination. We have chosen the easy to master, free-form style of tart; these crisp buttery creations are speedier to make than moulded tarts as there is no blind baking or special tin required.

You will need

12/3 cups (250g) plain flour
125g unsalted butter, chilled, finely chopped
1 egg, chilled

1. Process flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a food processor until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Whisk egg and 1 tbs chilled water in a bowl until combined, then with food processor motor running, add to flour mixture. Process until mixture begins to form large clumps, stopping machine before mixture forms a ball.
3. Turn pastry out on to a work surface and knead gently to bring together. Form into a disc for a round tart or into a log shape for a rectangular tart. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours.

Variations

Cornmeal pastry
Follow basic pastry recipe, reducing plain flour to 200g and adding 50g fine polenta with the flour.

Sweet pastry
Follow basic pastry recipe, adding 80g sifted icing sugar with the flour and replacing egg with 2 egg yolks.

Parmesan pastry
Follow basic pastry recipe, adding 50g finely grated parmesan with the flour.

Pastry tips

• With pastry, temperature is everything. Ensure that butter, eggs and water are chilled. On hot days place the blade from your food processor in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
• For light, flaky pastry, handle pastry as little as possible. Over-kneading works the gluten in the flour, creating tough pastry.
• ‘Resting’ is the technical term for chilling pastry in the fridge for several hours, or even better, overnight. This relaxes the gluten in the pastry, giving it a better texture and preventing shrinking. It also firms the butter, making the pastry manageable for rolling.
• One of the best ways to roll out pastry is on lightly-floured baking paper with a lightly-floured rolling pin. As you roll, continue to lightly flour the rolling pin, and occasionally lift the pastry away from the baking paper and lightly re-flour. If your pastry becomes too soft to handle at any stage, place on a tray and refrigerate until firmer.
• For crisp-bottomed tarts, cook your tart on the lowest rack of the oven.

Recipes: Sophia Young. Photography: Andrew Lehmann. Styling: David Morgan. Food preparation: Lisa Featherby.