French Pastry Dough

The crust on a tart is the best part; buttery flaky goodness I tell you.  I found this easy tart shell a while ago when I was researching how to make lemon curd.  Firstly, Dav.id Lebovitz rocks and rocks. Secondly, aside from purchasing them from the store, this will be the easiest and tastiest tart shell you can make.

This crust is awesome because of how the ingredients are put together.  Let me explain, you dump all of the ingredients EXCEPT the flour in an oven safe bowl until the butter turns brown around the edges, remove the bowl from the oven, add the flour and stir it all together. There is no surface flouring or dough rolling and the crust is really good! 

I've also used these shells for savory dishes as the dough is only mildly sweet. I've baked these shells and stored them in an airtight container for up to five days and frozen the baked shells for later usage.  The recipe can also be easily doubled!  Did I mention how easy it is to make?? 

French Pastry Dough

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/05/french-tart-dough-a-la-francaise/

Makes enough dough for 1 9 in round tart pan

What you need:

• 3 ounces unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour

What to do:

• Preheat the oven to 410º F
• In a medium-sized ovenproof bowl, combine the butter, oil, water, sugar, and salt.
• Place the bowl in the oven for 15 minutes, until the butter is bubbling and starts to brown just around the edges.
• When done, carefully remove the bowl from the oven, dump in the flour and stir it in quickly, until it comes together and forms a ball which pulls away from the sides of the bowl
• Transfer the dough to a 9-inch tart mold with a removable bottom and spread it a bit with a spatula.
• Once the dough is cool enough to handle, pat it into the shell with the heel of your hand and, and use your fingers to press it up the sides of the tart mold. Reserve a small piece of dough, about the size of a raspberry, for patching any cracks
• Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork about ten times, then bake the tart shell in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and if there are any sizable cracks, use the bits of reserved dough to fill in and patch them
• Let the shell cool before filling.