5 October 2016

Gluten free buckwheat and quinoa shortcrust pastry

Sandra basic recipes buckwheat, gluten free, quiche, quinoa, rice flour, shortcrust pastry, tart case 1 Comment

This wholesome gluten free shortcrust pastry makes a lovely crumbly base for quiches and tarts. The buckwheat and quinoa flour give it a deep, warm flavour which pairs wonderfully with fresh and more savoury fillings, like it does in our pattypan squash and courgette tart with basil ricotta.

I don’t use xanthan gum when I prepare it and I don’t think it needs it: the dough is easy to roll out, it doesn’t break when lining the tart case and I like how crumbly it is after baking. If you’re used to enhancing the elasticity of gluten free dough with xanthan gum, you could add 1½ teaspoon of it to the ingredients in the recipe below.

Happy baking!

Gluten free buckwheat and quinoa shortcrust pastry – enough to line 1 Ø 30 cm case or 6 Ø 12 cm ones.

Ingredients

• 135 g wholegrain rice flour
• 75 g buckwheat flour
• 60 g quinoa flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• 135 g cold butter, cubed
• 1 egg
• 25 ml cold water

 

Preparation

In a large bowl, mix the flours and the salt. Add the butter, then, using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. You can also use a food processor for this. In this case, pulse the mixture together until crumbly, then tip into the mixing bowl.

Add the egg and the water. Mix to a firm dough and knead briefly. If it stays moist, add a little extra rice flour; if it’s crumbly, add a bit more water.

Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for at least an hour before using. You could also prepare it a day ahead. The butter and the wholegrain flours make for a very firm dough. If using after several hours of chilling or on the next day, take it out of the fridge half an hour before you’re ready to use it; this will make it easier to process.

Heat the oven to 180^oC/350^oF/Gas 4. Brush a baking tin with oil and dust it with rice flour.

Lightly knead the dough, shape it into a ball and place it onto a floured sheet of baking parchment. Flatten the ball a little, then cover it with a second parchment sheet. Roll out the dough until it’s a circle a few cm larger than the tin and about ½ cm thick.

Line the tin with the pastry. Prick the base all over with a fork to prevent it forming air bubbles. Cover the pastry case with one of the sheets of baking parchment and weigh it down with baking beans or dried rice. Blind bake the case for 10-12 minutes, then carefully remove the paper and beans.

At this stage, depending on the dish you are using it in, you can already start filling the pastry case, like we do in our pattypan squash and courgette tart recipe. Or, before filling, you can blind bake the case without the beans for 5 minutes more until it’s crisp.