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Shortcrust pastry with discarded sourdough

Yesterday was the π day (03.14). I found out about this just late in the evening, but during the day, guess what I baked? Of course, a pie. Is this a sign for me from up there? Who knows...

I see myself baking much more bread than pies but I do enjoy making pies also, sometimes simple, sometimes more complex. What bread has to do with pies? Well, probably not a lot, except that I made a pie crust using discarded sourdough. I simply love to reuse discarded sourdough and now I use it in a pie crust.

What is more difficult with pie crusts is that they do not have to expand in the oven and they need to keep their shape. Sourdough has exactly the opposite property, to grow the dough. But if you use discarded sourdough, chances are little as the sourdough bacteria already consumed a lot of sugars from the flour.

In fact, I used my good old recipe of shortcrust pastry and transformed it, reusing the discarded sourdough. The 80g of milk I replaced with water (from the sourdough). Water is 50% in sourdough. I then had to deduct the same quantity from the flour. Butter quantity was kept the same but for the sourdough, I felt I could add a bit more. This is how I ended up with this recipe.

I had big help from my son mixing the ingredients by hand. While he was fascinated by the flour that stuck to his hands, I took advantage of his distraction to put together the ingredients in a ball.

I tested it in the oven and I was surprised that the shape was kept perfectly. The rise of the tart crust was minimal and I actually found it perfect. 

This crust looks solid but when you try to cut it with a spoon, it is breaking easily. It holds very well the filling and I will definitely use this recipe many times in the future.

How the tart has ended? It will come soon... but for now, let's look at the crust recipe.


Ingredients:

  • 220g all-purpose flour
  • 150g butter (cold, diced)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 200g discarded sourdough

Directions:
  1. Mix all ingredients by hand. It only takes a few minutes and the dough will come together. Remember that the butter must be cold.
  2. When you formed a ball, flatten it with your palm and put it in a closed container in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Of course, you can use film but I prefer to reduce my waste.
  3. Take the dough out and stretch it to the size of your tart pan. Lay it on the bottom, press it well with your finger to stick it well to the walls. Then, with a rolling pin, cut the excess on the borders. Take a fork and perforate the bottom. Cover this with a plate/lid and put it back in the fridge until you prepare your filling or at least for 30 minutes. I actually kept it overnight and use it in the morning.
  4. For a full bake, preheat the oven at 180ºC and bake it for 35 minutes with pie weights set on a silicone round mat or parchment paper. For a half bake, keep it for only 15-20 minutes in the oven.

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