Stilton Pastry
A sprinkling of creamy Stilton cheese sets this pastry dough apart. Use it to form the crust for our Beef and Stout Pie.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbs. sugar
- 16 Tbs. (2 sticks/250g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup ice water
- 4 oz. Stilton cheese, crumbled
Directions
In a food processor, combine the flour, salt and sugar and pulse until blended, about 5 pulses. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses. Add 1/3 cup of the ice water and pulse 2 or 3 times. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers but should not be sticky. If it is crumbly, add more water 1 Tbs. at a time, pulsing twice after each addition. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flour, place on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper and roll out into a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. Sprinkle the cheese over half of the dough, then fold the other half over the cheese. Roll out the dough into a 16 1/2-inch square. Using a paring knife, trim the dough into a 16-inch round.
Refrigerate the dough until firm, about 10 minutes, then lay the dough on top of the beef and stout pie and bake as directed in that recipe. Makes enough dough for a 16-inch round.