Pastry and Pies

Notes/Suggestions: So many people are afraid to make their own pastry. It is so easy, if you have a food processor. Many recipes call for unsalted butter, which I just never have handy when I want to make pastry. So here is a recipe that will use either salted or unsalted butter.

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups all purpose un-bleached flour (or 1 cup whole white wheat flour and 1 ½ cups of white flour.
• 12 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• ½ salt if using regular butter and 1 tsp if using unsalted butter.
• ¼ ice cold water.

Directions:

1. Cut the butter into ½ inch cubes (close enough is good). Put into a freezer safe container and into the freezer while you finish setting up.
2. Measure out ¼ cup of cold water and put it into the freezer.
3. Measure out the flour, sugar and salt and put into the bowl of the food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse to mix together.
4. Take the butter out of the freezer and add to the food processor bowl and pulse until the butter and flour mixture starts to look like wet sand. Get the water.
5. With the processor on, slowly add the water. The dough will start to clump together and form a ball. If it is too dry, add a little more water about 1 Tbsp and a time.
6. On a clean work surface set up two wrapping stations with plastic wrap. Take two sheets of plastic wrap for each station and crisscross them (+). In the center of each “+” put half the pastry dough. Use the sides of the plastic to pack the dough together. Wrap tightly and press together through the plastic wrap to form a disc shape. Put into the frig for about 30 minutes before rolling out. At this point the dough can be kept in the frig for a day or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

To roll out: Take out the dough and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Flour a clean work surface and put the unwrapped pastry dough in the center. Using a sturdy rolling pin, start in the middle and working outwards, start to flatten the pastry into a large circle about ¼ inch thick or slightly less.

For an easy rustic pie:  line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and slide the dough into the center. Put the pie filling of your choice into the center and carefully fold up the sides it create an oval or circle shape. Brush edges of pastry with milk or half-n-half and dot the filling with a bit of butter. Bake in an oven of 350 degrees until golden brown and bubbling, about 45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes or so before moving the pie to a serving plate.