Basic Olive Oil Pastry

olive-oil

Some recipes become so much part of a family that it would be impossible to function without them. I was given this one many years ago when I first began cooking, and I have to say I never (well, almost never) make another pastry.

It's foolproof, crazily easy to handle, resilient (freeze it, refrigerate it) and crusty - not to mention fragrant and healthy as it uses olive oil. It's the perfect all-purpose pastry for me and I use it in sweet or savoury dishes. See what you think.

Makes enough for two double crust 25cm pies. Halve the recipe if you wish or freeze or chill half the dough for another use. Substitute some wholemeal flour for a nuttier flavour.

2 cups self-raising flour (white or wholemeal)
2 cups plain flour (white or wholemeal)
1/2-1 teaspoon salt (less if desired)
1 cup cold water
1 cup olive oil (extra virgin or light according to taste)

Place the flours and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine. Pour the water and oil into a screw top jar and shake well to partially emulsify (or whisk together in a bowl). Pour the liquid into the flour and mix with a wooden spoon for a few seconds until it forms a dough. It is THAT EASY. The dough should come cleanly away from the bowl. Do not knead. Simply roll it out and use as needed. Because of the oil there is no rubbing in of fat, no sticking to your hands or the counter top, and it 'mends' like a dream if a hole or a tear develops.

Comments

+2 #12 How long to cook — sallyh 2018-02-10 11:49

Thanks, Debbie. This pastry works the same as any short-crust pastry, so if you are making a pie, cook it for however long you would cook it using other pastry. Roughly 45 minutes to an hour at 190C for a double crust pie, but this can vary according to what is inside the pie, or your oven settings and heat. Hope this helps. Just follow whatever pie or tart recipe you are using and treat this pastry as you would any other short pastry.

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0 #11 olive pastry — Debbie 2018-02-09 16:33

please tell me how long to cook and what temp

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+2 #10 'Light' olive oil - BAH! — Natalie Wheen 2016-04-26 21:26

NEVER EVER use 'light' olive oil. Dieters get conned by the word 'light' but it has just as much fat as the real deal extra virgin olive oil. But worse - 'Light' olive oil is extracted with chemicals from the rubbish of skins, stalks and stones left over from milling - the resulting sticky gunge then goes through further chemical processes to clean it up before it goes into the food chain. I wouldn't dream of putting it my mouth....... But then I also will only use ORGANIC extra virgin olive oils because the chemicals awash in the olive oil business are a marriage made in hell.

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0 #9 Ms — Kel 2016-03-28 09:23

Can this pastry be used as a pizza base instead ???

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0 #8 Agree — sallyh 2015-08-23 15:21

I agree, Jane. It truly is virtually the only pastry I make - works for sweet, savoury, freezes well baked or unbaked. And quick! So glad you liked it!

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-1 #7 Ms — Jane Turnbull 2015-08-23 08:13

This is amazing, lovely taste and so easy to make and doesn't stick to fingers!

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0 #6 SR flour — Sally H. 2015-02-25 15:12

SR stands for self-raising flour, Mike. It has baking powder added into and is used in Australia. If you cannot get that, use plain or all-purpose flour and add the amount of baking powder you would normally use to make a cake (usually about 2 teaspoons per cup). Hope this helps.

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0 #5 What is SR. flour?! — Mike 2015-02-25 13:53

What is SR. flour - salt reduced? There shouldn't be any salt in flour but I can't work out what else you could mean.... please don't use initials like this - it's not always obvious to people what you mean.

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