Short Crust Pastry

I love a good crust, and this comes together quickly enough that there's no need to buy a store-made one (though there's nothing wrong with them, of course). 

I highly recommend weighing the flour in this recipe, though if you don't have a scale, a heaping cup will usually be close enough. This is an excellent crust for using in all manner of tarts, and makes an especially nice quiche or pot pie crust.

You can use a food processor or stand mixer, but I find the best results come from using a basic pastry blender. 

Ingredients

145g (about 1 1/4 cups) all purpose flour (weighing will give you the best results)
1 stick ice cold butter cut in small pieces
1/4 cup ice cold water

Directions

1. Pulse flour and salt with pastry blender.
2. Add butter, pulsing until flour feels like it has small pebbles. Don't overblend, as the butter bits help keep the crust tender. 
3. Slowly add water until mixture comes together and feels like clay.
4. Knead dough 2 or 3 times on a lightly floured surface.
5. Roll into a disc about 12 inches in circumference.
6. Place over a 9.5 inch tart pan, letting it fall into the middle.
7. Trim to just outside the circumferance of the pan, folding the excess inside to make a double thickness.

If blind baking, set weights onto crust and bake at 425 for ten minutes.