Quick Puff Pastry Dough

from My Irish Table by Cathal Armstrong & David Hagedorn (You don’t need to be Irish to enjoy this cookbook!)

Makes 4 portions of pastry, each sufficient for 1 (9- to 12- inch) piecrust

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups pastry flour, plus more for dusting

a pinch of fine sea salt

1 1/2 cups cold water, plus 1 to 2 more tablespoons as necessary

1 pound cold unsalted butter, formed into a rough 5-inch square, 1-inch thick

Start the dough:

Place the flour and salt in a large bowl, combining them with your fingers. Make a well in the center. Pour the 1 1/2 cups water into the well. Using a butter knife, stir the flour into the water. (You want to avoid overworking the dough and developing its gluten.) The object here is to get all of the dry flour away from the edge of the bowl and have it come together and adhere into a single mass; if this doesn’t occur, add a little water, sprinkling it on a bit at a time. Once all the flour has come together, the dough is ready to be rolled. Turn it out into a lightly floured surface and roll it into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle.

Add the butter:

Lay the butter square in the center of the rectangle. Fold one long edge of the dough up and over the butter, aligning it 1 inch beyond the center. Fold the opposite edge of the dough over the butter to overlap about 1 inch in the center. Fold the short edges up so that one just overlaps the other. Wrap it in plastic wrap, turn it seam-side down, and let it rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Roll out the dough:

Return the dough (unwrapped) to the lightly floured surface. Use the side of a rolling pin to gently beat down the butter until it softens enough to roll out. Then roll the dough into an approximately 14-inch square. Fold the square horizontally in thirds by first lifting the bottom edge and folding it away from you and then lifting the top edge and folding it toward you. Then, starting with the left edge, fold it vertically in thirds. Wrap it in plastic wrap, rotate it 90 degrees, and let it rest in the refrigerator in this orientation for 10 minutes.

Roll out the dough two more times:

Return the dough to the floured surface, making sure to orient it the way it was when you put it in the refrigerator. Roll the dough again into 14-inch square and fold it first horizontally and then vertically in thirds as before. Wrap in plastic wrap, rotate 90 degrees, and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Repeat this rolling and folding process once more. Cut the dough into quarters. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost it in the refrigerator before using.