Making traditional puff pastry at home requires some time, and although it yields great results, a rough puff pastry is a great alternative, producing very good results in less time.The ingredients are the same, so you’ll still have a wonderful buttery flavour, however the rise on the pastry will be a little bit less than the traditional dough.
Tip 250g plain flour onto the work surface. Add 250g cubed, cold unsalted butter- Start to rub the butter into the flour with your fingers
- Mix together until you have little chunks of mixture. Mix in ½ tsp fine sea salt. Do not overwork the dough, or it will become tough and the butter will get too soft and start to seep.
- Make a well in the middle. Gradually add 150ml cold water to the well – about a third at a time – and mix in with your fingertips. (You can use a food processor with a paddle attachment to do this.)
- Bring together to form a dough.
- Once the dough comes together, dust it and the work surface lightly with flour.
- Roll out into a large rectangle.
- Fold into a book fold (fold the sides into the middle and close like a book).
- Turn the dough 90 degrees, roll out again into a small rectangle and do another book fold.
- Fold in the middle. Wrap incling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Repeat Steps 9 and 10 twice more, with a 30-minute rest in between, then the pastry is ready to use.
Makes about 650g
Extract from The Skills by Monica Galetti (Quadrille £20) Photography: Cristian Barnett
