Quinoa & linseed shortcrust pastry
High protein quinoa flour makes a great savoury pastry without a hint of graininess, while tapioca and ground linseed help to bind the mixture into a pliable, easily worked dough. It’s important to make sure that the pastry is really well cooked through to avoid any sogginess, so give it a little longer when you blind bake.
Ingredients
50g tapioca starch
45g quinoa flour
40g freshly ground linseed (use a coffee grinder)
1 tsp psyllium husk powder
1 pinch of sea salt
75g cold salted butter, diced
3 tablespoons of cold water
Method
Put the tapioca starch, quinoa flour, ground linseed, psyllium and sea salt into a mixing bowl and mix briefly. Rub in the butter with your fingertips by squishing the cubes until there is still some texture left – with pieces of butter about the size of your little fingernail. Err on the side of caution when you rub in the fat as this will open up the texture of the pastry when you roll it.
Add the water a tablespoon at a time. Use your hand in a claw shape to stir the mixture and avoid the temptation to squish it into a dough. When it starts to clump of its own accord, gather into a ball and knead briefly on the worktop into a smooth pastry. Form into a disc, wrap in parchment and chill for up to 48 hours. When you come to roll out the pastry after chilling, knead it a little to make it pliable again and roll out between two sheets of gluten free flour dusted parchment.
The pastry will keep for about 4 days in the fridge or up to three months in the freezer. You can also freeze lined tart tins, or uncooked pasties and blind bake from frozen.