Savory Pastry Crust

Serves

This is an easy-to-make dough that pairs well with quiche or savory tarts. To enhance its flavor, try adding fresh herbs — thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil and chives are all good choices.

This recipe makes enough dough for one single-crust quiche or tart.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter (cut into 1/2-inch pieces)
3 tablespoons cold, solid vegetable shortening (choose a brand without trans fats, cut into small pieces)
3 tablespoons ice water

Directions

Place the flour, salt, butter, and shortening in a food processor and pulse on and off until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

With the machine running, pour in 3 tablespoons of the ice water. If the dough begins to clump together, stop the machine and transfer the pastry to a large piece of plastic wrap. Pat the dough into a flat disk, wrap tightly and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. If the dough isn’t moist enough to clump, add the remaining water and proceed as above.

Wrapped tightly, the dough can be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for 3 months.