Ingredients:
150g unsalted butter at room temperature
225g 00 Flour
105g water
1 pinch of salt
Preparation:
Puff pastry is all about balancing ingredients temperatures.
Use a silicone spatula to mix 45g of flour with the butter, until all absorbed and smoothed in. Don't mix with hand as the skin warmth will make the butter too soft and compromise the results. Create a 0.5cm high rectangle and set aside.
In a bowl, mix the remaining flour with salt and water until you have a very smooth shiny dough. I beat up the dough on the worktop to give mini-shocks to the gluten, and I mix by hand stretching the dough always in the same upwards directions, making 90' degree turns every time the dough gets to a long roll shape (or use a KitchenAid Artisan Mixer)
Roll the dough to a longer rectangle than the butter's and place the butter one on top. Fold in 3 and start rolling in the same upwards direction.
Fold in 3 again, keeping the short side in front of you. Place the new mix on a plate, cover with a bowl/cling film and put in the fridge for 15 min. Repeat the same roll/fold step 4-5 times until all butter is absorbed and you have a smooth dough. For each step, make sure you roll in the same direction but turn the dough 90'degree vs previous step.
Depending on how small/big (e.g.a pie) your puff pastry dish is, bake in the oven for 20'/40' at 180'C.
I did some amuse-bouche shaping the dough into a long thin bows and baking them for 20min. I topped the bow with soft goat cheese wrapped in smoked trout and a chive string.
