Pâte brisée is a shortcrust pastry. It’s not sweet, so it can be used for both savoury and sweet dishes, and it is a little bit lighter and more delicate than pâte a foncer (flan pastry). Shortcrust pastry is ideal for pies and tarts. Here, I’ve used Michel Roux’s recipe for pâte brisée, from his Pastry book (which is excellent).
Ingredients (makes approx. 450 g/1 lb pastry)
- 250 g (8.8 oz; 2 cups) plain flour
- 150 g (5 ¼oz; ⅔ cup) unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 tsp salt
- pinch of caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp cold milk
Pour the flour into a heap on your work surface. Make a well in the centre.
Into the well, add the butter, sugar, salt and egg.
With your fingers, cream the ingredients together, and then gradually rub in the flour. The mixture will start to form a grainy dough.
Add the milk, and keep rubbing until a smoth dough is formed. With all shortcrust pastry, it’s important not to overwork the dough, otherwise the gluten strands in the flour lengthen, and the pastry will be tougher. So, you need to handle it as little as possible to keep it short (light and crumbly). Wrap the dough in cling film (wrap) and refrigerate until you need to use it.
