Pasta Sfoglia

Puff pastry is the only pastry you need to see being made to learn the art and, if you cannot do this, then the easiest way to get puff pastry is to buy it ready-made, especially as the quality is so good nowadays.

Puff pastry is made by putting butter, or other fats like lard, between sheets of pastry and rolling and folding it until the pastry is built up into many layers with fat separating each one. The difficulty lies in trying to roll out the pastry with the hard fat beneath it without allowing the fat to break through the pastry. It also takes some time to make, as the pastry has to be left to cool and rest between rollings. The end result, however, is a pastry which, when baked, puffs up as each sheet is cooked and separated by the layers of fat. It is used to make both savoury and sweet tarts, pies and biscuits, and can be combined with cheese to make tasty snacks.