The grandma’s shortcrust pastry is not the classic butter-rich recipe but the basic version of Bolognese cuisine with which my family has been making traditional desserts like the pinza, the ravioli and the homemade cookies. Needless to say, every family has its recipe with varying ingredient quantities, this is ours and I can assure you it’s truly perfect.
Grandma’s shortcrust is extremely versatile, it can be used for pies, rolled cookies and sweet ravioli, its characteristic is that it is softer than the classic shortcrust pastry, plus it doesn’t need resting, you can knead it and use it right away.
The ingredients needed are the same as for a classic shortcrust but in completely different quantities.
If you need to prepare it in advance you can easily store it in the fridge for a week, if you don’t use it all you can freeze it.
With the grandma’s shortcrust pastry I’ve prepared:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2.2 lbs of shortcrust pastry
- Cooking methods: Without cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 324.61 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 55.33 (g) of which sugars 19.97 (g)
- Proteins 6.92 (g)
- Fat 9.67 (g) of which saturated 5.88 (g)of which unsaturated 3.46 (g)
- Fibers 1.12 (g)
- Sodium 16.13 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 7 tbsp butter (melted and cooled)
- 3 tbsp milk (use as needed, depending on flour absorption)
- 1 packet baking powder
- 1 tsp lemon zest (grated)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (my grandma used 1 packet of vanillin)
Tools
- 1 Chopping board
- 1 Scale
Procedure
To prepare grandma’s shortcrust pastry I use a wooden chopping board but you can knead it also in a bowl.
Melt the butter in the microwave or in a saucepan and let it cool.
Pour the flour, sugar, baking powder, and lemon zest on the work surface and make the classic fountain, inside which you place the beaten eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.
Knead everything until the ingredients are well combined, if needed add two or three tablespoons of milk.
The consistency should be identical to classic shortcrust, you need to form a smooth dough that doesn’t stick to your fingers.
Grandma’s shortcrust pastry without rest is ready, use it to make homemade cookies, soft pies, ravioli, and filled rolls.
If you don’t use it all, store it in the fridge for a week.
If you need to prepare homemade cookies, pinza or a soft pie, roll it out to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
If you need to prepare filled ravioli or pie with jam, 1/8 inch is enough, consider that during baking the thickness doubles.
The baking temperature is 338/347°F, adjust based on your oven’s power.
Tips
If you need to prepare it in advance you can easily store it in the fridge for a week, if you don’t use it all you can freeze it.
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