This dough is called "pâte brisée" in French (pronounce "pat breezay"). It is the base for all quiche and pie recipes. If you take the time to make your own crust, your quiche will taste a million times better (at least!) than if you buy it ready-to-use.
The ingredients below are enough to make 2 thin crusts. Use one half of the dough right away and freeze the other half for your next recipe!
- 250 grams of flour (1 and 3/4 cups or a little over 1/2 pound, unbleached, all-purpose)
- 125 grams of unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1 egg
- 1 tea spoon of crème fraîche (or sour cream if you can't find it)
- 1/2 tea spoon of salt.
The base ingredients are the flour, salt and butter. The egg and crème fraîche are here to help them stick together (plus the egg will give the crust a nice golden color). I got the tip from a marvelous little book called Quiches, cakes & compagnie. You can replace them by water.
- First sift the flour over a large bowl and add the salt.
- Cut the butter in tiny cubes. Incorporate the butter to the flour with your finger tips (you can't really use a spoon here... You could use a pastry blender but you'd loose all the fun of making your own "pâte brisée"). The dough will feel like coarse sand grains between your fingers.
- Push the flour and butter mix on the sides of the bowl, digging a hole in the center.
- Break the egg and pour it in the hole in middle of the bowl. Beat it a little with a fork then use a wooden spoon to incorporate the flour little by little. Add the crème fraîche or sour cream and mix again until the dough is homogeneous. (Alternatively, or if the dough is still dry, pour a few drops of water and knead.) Use your hands to knead the dough and form two balls of the same weight.
- Place the balls of dough in plastic wraps and let them rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour before using or freezing.
- Let the dough warm up a little before rolling it out.
I'll publish quiche and pie recipes separately... So keep posted! :-)
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