Rich Pie Dough (perfect for savory tarts)

By Hklbrries

Don't let their low profile fool you. Savory tarts are perfect for entertaining.

“They’re so versatile,” said master baker Nick Malgieri, author of numerous cookbooks including “Bake!” (Kyle, $29.95) and “The Modern Baker” (DK Publishing, $35).

“They may be used as hors d’oeuvres, or as a first course, brunch or lunch dish,” he said in an email. “Best of all, most can be prepared entirely in advance and served at room temperature.”

Savory tarts certainly deserve more respect. While the humble pie is lavished with buttery streusel topping or sweet whipped cream or billowy meringue, cheese savories are relegated to the appetizer platter at catered affairs.

Even quiches – which are essentially the same as savory tarts – are seen as more sophisticated. While pies and quiches are baked in deep, sloped pans and require more filling, tarts are baked in inch-tall pans with straight sides.

A tart’s short stature means the ratio of filling to crust is lower. This, along with the tart’s removable sides, makes unmolding easier and opens up a world of possibilities in terms of presentation.

Their portability makes tarts ideal for a potluck or buffet. And because the ingredients can be prepared ahead and assembled and baked at the last minute, they ease the pressure when entertaining.

Their presentation can be formal or casual; serve them in the baking pan or unmold and plate.

Ingredients can be rich or light. Make tarts with whole eggs or just yolks; use milk or cream, meat or vegetables. They can be as simple as phyllo dough brushed with pesto or sauce and topped with cheese and caramelized onions.

Many cookbooks suggest partially blind-baking the crust, brushing the inside of the shell with an egg-milk glaze and returning the crust to the oven and baking until lightly browned to get a crisp pastry shell.

Malgieri never partially bakes a crust that has a filling requiring baking. He uses baking powder in sweet and savory pie dough and always bakes tarts and pies on the lowest rack of the oven.

“I always use a dough that’s a little lower in fat than the typical pie dough,” he said. “Baking powder in the dough makes it expand slightly during baking and maintain contact with the bottom of the pan (flaky doughs with a lot of butter in them can shrink and lose contact with the pan), ensuring that the crust bakes through well.

“Most of all, always bake a pie or tart that’s filled before baking on the lowest rack of the oven for good bottom heat.”

Malgieri’s other recommendations, culled from his cookbooks:

Meat, fish and shellfish need to be just cooked through before being combined with other filling ingredients and baked, so they don’t overcook and toughen.

Vegetables and greens need to be completely cooked so they don’t leach water into the filling and keep it from setting properly.

Taste the filling for seasoning and then add eggs. Overseason slightly when eggs are being added to accommodate for their introduction to the filling.

One final tip for the novice baker: “Start with something easy!” said Malgieri, who once attended a dinner party for 10 where the host didn’t start cooking until the guests had arrived. “And prepare it the day before or early on the day you’re going to serve it.”

You don’t want to hold your guests hostage.

“We started dessert at 3 a.m.,” he recalled.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk

Preparation

Step 1

Have all ingredients cold before starting. Combine flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add butter and pulse about 20 times to finely mix in the butter.

Add the egg and egg yolk and pulse until the dough just begins to form a ball. Turn out dough and press into a disc about 1/2-inch thick. Refrigerate the dough to chill after mixing and again after it has been rolled and fitted in the pan.