Added 1/May/2011
source: Jamie Oliver
makes 2
For 2 tart bases of 30cm:
Before you begin making your pastry dough, keep in mind that you want to get your ingredients in a dough form with the minimum amount of mixing. The more you work the dough, the more elastic it will become.
This dough can be made by hand or in a food processor. Cream together the butter, sugar and salt and then rub or pulse in the flour and egg yolks (make sure not to over mix; if using a food processor keep pulses very short). When this mixture has come together, looking like coarse breadcrumbs, add the cold milk or water. (If using a food processor you might want to move your dough to a bowl before adding milk or water to ensure you do not over work the dough.) Pat and gently work together to form a ball of dough. Lightly flour and push, pat and squeeze into shape.
Roll or mould the pastry dough into a really large, short and fat sausage shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1hour.
Remove from refrigerator and slice off thin slivers of the dough lengthwise, about 1/8 of an inch thick. (I have found that using about an 8” slicer makes this task very easy.) Place slivers in and around the bottom and sides of your 12-inch tart pan, fitting them together like a sort of jigsaw puzzle. Then push the pieces together, level out, and clean off excess pastry from the sides of the pan. Once you have finished lining your pan cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least an hour. (This recipe makes two 12” tart shells, so you can line your tart pans and store them in the freezer until you need them. Once you have the crust done, it is easy to whip up a filling and have a fresh tart for company.)
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Bake the shell for about 15 minutes. This will cook the tart shell all the way through, colouring it slightly.