Region: International
Category: Bread Doughs, Short Doughs, and Batters
Season: Any
Difficulty: Medium Difficulty
Short dough is the name for the yeast-less pastry made of flour and fat used for both sweet and savory pies, as well as a variety of pastries in the Mediterranean ranging from empanadas to some calzone-like pies. Short dough is known as pasta frolla in Italian and pâte brisée in French.
Yield: Makes enough for 1 double-crust 10-inch pie or ten 4-inch empanada disks
Preparation Time: 1:15 hours in all
1 1/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour, sifted
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening or lard
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons ice water, or more as needed
1. Blend the flour, butter, shortening, and salt together in a large, cold mixing bowl using a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Add 2 tablespoons of ice water. Mix again until the water is absorbed. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon ice water if necessary to form the dough.
2. Shape the dough into a ball, handling it as little as possible (so do this quickly), then dust it with flour and wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using, then let rest at room temperature for a few minutes before rolling out according to the recipe.
Posted: 10/01/2007
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