Basic Pastry

Ingredients

• 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 sticks very cold unsalted butter, in 1 inch cubes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup ice water

Instructions

1. Use metal blade to process flour, butter, and salt until mixture is like coarse meal, about 8 seconds.
2. Add ice water and pulse until dough begins to clump together. Do not let it form a ball. Divide dough and any little scraps into three equal parts and put each in a plastic bag. Work through bag to press dough together into a ball, then a flat disk.
3. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.
4. Roll each disk of dough on lightly floured surface to a circle about 1/8th inch thick. Press into place in prepared pie pan. Use kitchen shears to trim dough, leaving 1 inch overlap beyond pan. Fold overlap under. Pinch crust to form decorative edge. Prick bottom and sides with fork and refrigerate crust for 30 minutes, or until firm.
5. Preheat oven to 400°F 15 minutes before baking.
6. Line pastry shell with parchment paper and fill it with uncooked beans or rice. Bake it for 12 minutes. Remove paper, beans or rice, prick shell again and bake it 6 minutes longer or until it is lightly browned. Remove shell from pan and let cool on wire rack.
   1. Fruit Tart: To make a one-crust tart, use a tart pan instead of a pie pan. When cooked shell is thoroughly cool, spread about 1 cup of pastry cream on bottom. Arrange sliced fruit decoratively on top.