Easy to combine in a food processor, this gluten-free dough makes a tender, crisp pastry. Most tart shells, gluten-free or otherwise, benefit from being “part-baked” for 15 minutes before being filled so they stay crisp for a day or two. To use this dough for a savory tart, reduce the sugar to 1 teaspoon.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (2 ounces) almond meal
- ½ cup (2 ounces) white rice flour, plus extra for rolling dough
- ½ cup (2 ounces) potato starch
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- Pinch fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) sugar
- ¾ stick (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Directions
Combine the almond meal, rice flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, salt and sugar in a food processor and blend to mix. Add the butter and process to a coarse meal. With the motor running, add the egg through the feed tube and process just long enough for the dough to start clumping together.
Dust a sheet of plastic wrap with rice flour. Turn out the dough, crumbs and all, onto it and pat together into a disk. Enclose in the wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Heat the oven to 375° F. Set out a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable base.
Unwrap the disk of dough, and rub with rice flour on both sides. Roll out 1/8-inch thick between two sheets of plastic wrap. Lift off the top sheet of plastic, and trim into an 11-inch circle, using an upturned plate or cake pan as a guide. Flop the dough into the pan (don’t push it against the rim yet) and lift off the second sheet of plastic. If it should stick, just refrigerate the whole thing, dough, plastic and pan, for a few minutes. To make the sides of the pastry crust thicker than the base, compact and press the excess dough evenly against the sides of the pan with your thumb. (Use the trimmings to patch any thin places.) There is no need for pie weights; this gluten-free dough will stay put. Bake immediately, or refrigerate until needed.
Recipes © copyright 2013 by Jacqueline Mallorca.
The author of more than a dozen cookbooks, Gluten-Free Living Food Editor Jackie Mallorca’s most recent titles include The Wheat-Free Cook and Gluten-Free Italian. For more information, tips and recipes, visit her website at GlutenFreeExpert.com.
