Basic Short Dough

Name: Basic Short Dough
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: ¼ teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening or lard; 2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening or lard; 6 tablespoons (¾ stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits; 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water, or more as needed; 1¼ cups all-purpose unbleached flour, sifted

Preparation info

Makes Enough For
One
Double-Crust 10 Inch Pie

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Mediterranean Small Plates

By Clifford A. Wright

Published 2023

About

Short dough is the name for the yeastless 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.

Ingredients

1¼ cups all-purpose unbleached flour, sifted
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) cold unsalted butt

Europe
Spain
Starter
Mediterranean
Vegetarian
Pie

Method

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.
Shape the dough into a ball, handling it as little as possible (so do