Home-Made Pastry can be lower in fat content

Many people these days try to avoid all types of pastries as these are very high in fat content. Rough puff, puff and flaky pastry similar to the one used for our traditional 'pastizzi' (cheese or pea cakes) is extremely high in fat and not recommended. At home most would use shortcrust pastry to make pies and tarts and for this one would either buy it frozen and ready made or make it at home with plain flour and margarine. In the past an even tastier pastry would not have margarine but would have a equal propotion of butter and lard. In domestic use this is nowadays avoided for want of a 'healthier' type of fat. Both butter and lard are products of animal fats and this is associated with cholesterol deposits in our arteries as well as risks of heart disease as a result of too much of this saturated fat in our diet. However, the block type of margarines are not necessarily plant based and so these may be similar in effect to the butter. Therefore one must be careful when making pastry with these types of margarine. Go for one which is plant based. A healthier option would therefore be to use the margarine which is available in tubs (buy polyunsaturated margarine) and suitable for baking. Not all of these are suitable for baking so check on the tub.

I make my pastry using olive oil and not margarine as this requires even less fat so much better. You can also substitute some of the plain flour for wholemeal flour to have more fibre in your diet.

Shortcrust Pastry with olive oil

• 300g plain flour
• 100g wholemeal flour
• 100 - 150ml olive oil
• around 150ml water
• pinch of salt (optional)

Method

1. Sieve the flour in a bowl and lift the sieve so as to introduce air in with your flour.
2. Make a hole in the middle and add the oil gradually
3. You can then mix together with your finger tips or with a food processor until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Do not over mix.
4. Add the water gradually bringing the mixture together into a pastry with your hands or with the food processor. Do not add all the water at one go. Only add until the mixture forms a ball and looks like a clean pastry which is not soggy or dry. A dry pastry will be difficult to roll out and will crack. A soggy pastry will be just as difficult although can be remedied with the addition of some plain flour, although this is not ideal.
5. Knead the pastry on a lightly floured surface and then place in the refrigerator for half an hour.
6. Roll out as desired after half an hour or freeze.