One of my favourite cookbooks, Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells, has come up trumps again with this super easy pastry recipe. I tried it mostly because I was intrigued by its simplicity, dubious about how it could work and, irritatingly, I was short of butter. The recipe also happens to be vegan.

140g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
60ml water
60ml olive oil

Combine the flour and salt in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the water, then the oil and mix until thoroughly blended. It’ll be soft, moist and oily. Now just press it into your loose bottomed metal tart tin. No need to grease it first.

Yes that’s it. C’est tout!

Ms Wells uses this in a Swiss chard tart but I made it for an onion tart. There was no blind baking and no shrinkage. That said I had left it overnight in the fridge once pressed into the tin which may have helped. Lovely crisp edges, but like most pastries, the bottom wasn’t quite as short. Next time I might try baking it blind. This time I’ve just been reheating slices in a dry pan and it’s worked a treat.