At a glance
You're making the crispy pastry base for a classic French quiche—the foundation that'll hold all your delicious fillings. The key is keeping everything cold while you work the butter into the flour, then chilling the dough for an hour before rolling it out and blind-baking it until golden. Once you've got this buttery shell ready, you can fill it with whatever combination sounds good to you.
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Coarse crumbs
Put the flour, sugar, salt and butter into a large bowl. Work quickly so the butter stays as cold as possible. In just a few moments you'll have worked the ingredients into something like coarse breadcrumbs. The dough won't be fully bound together yet.
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Smooth dough
Add the ice-cold water, but for now use only about half of the amount you've prepared. Work the mixture into a smooth dough that holds together nicely without being sticky. Shape it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it in the freezer for about an hour.
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Roll it out
After an hour, take the dough out and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Get your tart tin ready – this can be a springform cake tin or a shallow ceramic tart dish, whichever you prefer. Aim for a diameter of roughly 24–26 cm.
