Homemade vegan shortcrust pastry

Be happy, eat healthy

The easiest homemade tart crust ever: the dough comes together in minutes in food processor.

I add less sugar because the dessert fruits themselves are sweet; the sweeter the fruits, the sweeter the end result.

Ingredients

250 g flour

2 pinches of salt

1/2 tsp cane sugar

1 package of vanilla sugar (only for sweet tarts)

50 g margarine, cold, cut in dices

1 tbsp grapeseed oil or rapseed*

80 ml cold water (a little more or less)

I try to reduce sugar as much as possible.

For a sweet tart: 1 package of vanilla sugar + 2 tbsp cane sugar are enough as I only make tart with sweet fruits.

For a savoury tart

• no sugar or just 1/2 tsp to enhance the taste (like a pinch of salt in cake recipes, to enhance the taste too)
• 1 tsp dried herbs (thyme, chive, parsley, herbs of Provence**, Italian seasoning***)

** I'm going to stop using olive oil :

• first, it is more and more expensive and above all, olive oil scams are proliferating

• if it is not scammed, the study found traces of mineral oil-saturated hydrocarbons and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons which can migrate into foods during production and transportation (organic or not)... and it accumulate in the liver and lymphoid system of the body, causing inflammation

** Herbes de Provence made from a French traditional mix of dried herbs: rosemary, thyme, marjoram and oregano

*** Italian seasoning, a mix of dried herbs and spices: basil, pepper, garlic, onion, oregano, parsley, chilli flakes, rosemary, thyme

Preparation

In the bowl of food processor, put flour, salt, both sugars (if the pastry is sweet), dried herbs (if the pastry is savoury), and whizz briefly for a few seconds (count to 9).

Add margarine, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (count to 9, stop the machine, and process, count to 9 again).

Then with machine running, add the water and oil slowly through feed tube until dough leaves sides of bowl, and the mixture starts to form a ball around the blade (the bowl is clean).

Stop the machine, squeeze the dough, then right away, roll out the dough to the desired shape and size, about 5 cm larger than the tin.  For me, it is easier to roll out here than let it into a fridge to rest.

Line a greased tart tin with the pastry, pierce the bottom with a fork and leave it to rest in the fridge for 5-7 mins (enough).  It is really crispy and also save time and effort.

Fruit tarts, my way (easy and simple)

I don't like cream-based / stewed fruits / ground almonds tarts, except for Alsatian apple or pear tart.  I just love the pastry, a sticky crust and the caramelized fruit juice.

Tips: for sweet tart, line the bottom of the dough with a mix of corn starch and sugar (1 tbsp of corn starch + 1 tsp sugar), this will soak up the juices and prevent the tart from getting soggy.

I don't like cakes that are too sweet either: for 250 g flour, 50 g sugar are enough; I even saw 200 g instead!  Now, for sweet tart, I just add 2 tsp cane sugar in the dough, 1 tbsp cane sugar mixed with corn starch on the bottom of the dough, 1 package of vanilla sugar and 1 tbsp cane sugar on top.

For these fruit tarts, mirabelle plums, blueberries, nectarines, pears, apples and grapes, it is always the same process:

• mix of corn starch + sugar on the bottom of the dough before arranging fruits

• fruits finely sliced (pears, apples and nectarines); grapes cut in half length ways, seeds removed; mirabelle plums, seeds removed; strawberries*, cut in half and raw of course

• on top, sprinkle 1 package of vanilla sugar + 1 tbsp cane sugar

• a couple of knobs of margarine, and finally, a few pinches of cinnamon

strawberries, grapes, nectarines, apples

* maybe 2 tbsp cane sugar in the dough as strawberries are not so sweet