This is my go-to crust for all savory tarts. It is delicious and easy, and serves as a perfect base to transform end-of-the-week bits of cheeses, vegetables, or meats into an elegant dish. I increase this recipe by half when I am making a savory tart for a crowd, and have used this crust for all sizes of pans and numbers of eaters—including just me. Keep an eye on the proportion of flour to butter, salt, and sugar, and you will be fine. The dough can rest until you have time to make the tart.

Makes a 10-inch crust, about 8 medium slices

Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• Pinch kosher salt

• ¾ cup (1. sticks) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into ½ -inch cubes, plus more for pan

• 1 tablespoon sugar

Method

• Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; mix, using a pastry blender or your fingers, until the dough is the texture of rough sand.

• Dribble in cold water, if needed, until mixture barely holds together.

• Take two generous pieces of plastic wrap, crossing one length over the other.

• Carefully pour dough mixture onto the center of the plastic wrap.

• Pull up the plastic, consolidating the dough as you do so. Create a disc about 1 ⁄2 inches thick and 6 inches across. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

• When you are ready to prepare the tart, preheat oven to 425°.

• Generously butter a 10-inch pie or tart pan (I prefer those with removable bottoms).

• Push small pieces of chilled dough into the bottom of the pan and up the sides.

• Smooth with your hands, as this is much too short a crust to roll out. Make sure to create a relatively thin layer of crust, about 1⁄8 to ¼ inch. I use a rounded coffee cup or canning jar to push the crust into the sides more evenly.

• Blind bake crust for 10 minutes, remove from oven, and cool for a few minutes before filling. (To blind bake, prick the crust with a fork; then cover with foil and fill with dried beans to keep crust from shrinking.) I sometimes blind bake the dough in the morning and fill and finish baking in the evening if time is short.

• Store any remaining dough wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator. It will last a few days more for your next foraging adventure.

Try This:

Start all savory fillings with a custard: Beat 2 to 3 eggs with 3/4 cup cream, half and half, or whole milk. One or 2 thinly sliced caramelized onions may be added to savory tarts, such as those that follow. To caramelize onions, slice the onions thinly. Add 1 tablespoon salted butter to a medium frying pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until onions are translucent. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking slowly, stirring once in a while until onions are golden to very light brown in color and very soft. They should taste sweet and mellow.

 Slice 2 beefsteak tomatoes (or quarter 4 smaller, very ripe tomatoes), add 5 or 6 leaves of thinly sliced basil, and heat in a frying pan over low heat for less than a minute. Arrange heated vegetables over blind-baked shortbread crust. Add ½ cup grated parmesan and spoon in 6 ounces soft, fresh goat cheese. Finish by pouring custard carefully around the filling.

Arrange 5 or 6 spears cooked asparagus on crust; add 6 ounces soft goat cheese in spoonfuls and ½ cup grated parmesan. Pour custard around filling.

Combine 1 cup cooked corn, 8 ounces grated jack cheese or queso Oaxaca, and 2 tablespoons crema or Crème Fraîche; place in crust and pour custard around filling.

In a small frying pan over low heat, sauté 1 cup thinly sliced cooked zucchini and a few nutmeg gratings in 1 tablespoon butter. Add to crust; top with 2 to 3 thin slices of ham and 8 ounces grated gruyère cheese; pour custard around filling.

In a small frying pan over low heat, cook 1 thinly sliced onion and 2 to 3 sage leaves in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter until onion is caramelized. Remove sage leaves and add mixture to crust, along with thinly sliced baked winter squash and 6 ounces goat cheese; pour custard over filling.

For a lighter tart, use whole milk in the custard. I add an extra egg to ensure that the custard sets, and I often grate some nutmeg into the custard mixture for flavor. You can use caramelized sliced leeks in place of onions. You can also double the vegetable filling, using dark greens such as swiss chard or kale, lightly sautéed in butter until wilted, to fill the crust. Use only about ¼ cup parmesan or other dry cheese.

For savory custard-filled tarts, bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes, or until custard is set. The middle should barely jiggle.

To make a sweet tart, add 2 tablespoons sugar and about ¼ cup ground, lightly toasted almonds to the dough.

For a simple dessert, spread a layer of good-quality jam on the crust. Add enough pitted and sliced apricots, peaches, or plums to generously cover the surface of the crust. Sprinkle mixture with 1 tablespoon demerara or granulated sugar and distribute 1 tablespoon diced unsalted butter across the top. Bake sweet tarts at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes, until bubbly.