Pâte Brisée – Homemade French Quiche & Tart Crust

Pâte brisée is the all around, all purpose, all season pie/tart/quiche crust that will turn your baked dishes from delicious to delectable! The difference: the homemade crust. It’s quick, easy and scrumptious! And it’s 100% French.

You will need:

1 egg
250g flour (2 cups)
125g softened butter (1 stick or 1/2 cup)
rolling pin
wax paper

I learned this recipe from a delightful French lady – who, by the way, taught me an excellent and simple pizza dough recipe as well, which will be the subject of a later video. My friend herself learned how to make pâte brisée from a lady named Berthe (pronounced Bert in French) who lived down in the south of France, and it seems this recipe floated a little here and there until it landed, to my great joy, in my lap this past winter. Berthe made such an impact on the lives and stomaches of the people close to her that one has now created cooking classes in her honor. That’s saying somethin’!

As for the pâte brisée itself, it is a versatile dough that you can use for quiches (see the three recipes I have already posted for ideas –

pear & goat cheese,

salmon & spinach,

traditional French), tarts (

tarte citron) or good old fashion American pies.

It is essential that you leave your butter out in advance so that it is completely softened before you start. As you will see in the video, I did not leave mine out long enough and it was difficult at first to get going. A few hours in advance will do.

As an aside, I am learning to use new editing software, so please excuse the small imperfections. I will soon get back up to my former quality.

Let me know how this works out for you!

And, as always, bon appetit!