Instructions
If you want to make the pastry the night before, put the pastry in the
fridge at step 3 instead of the freezer, taking out 20 minutes before
rolling out.
1)
Sift the flour into a large bowl with the salt. Rub in the butter to a
breadcrumb mixture. Pour in a few tablespoons of cold water and start
to bring the mixture together. Add a tablespoon of water at a time as
needed as you work the mixture into a soft dough. Wrap and freeze for
10 minutes.
2) Roll the pastry out into a long rectangle. Fold the top third down, then fold the bottom third back up over the top.
3) Turn the dough 90 degrees, then repeat step 2. Wrap and freeze again for 10 minutes.
4) Optional step - you can repeat steps 2 and 3 two or three more times if you want your pastry to puff up really high! (I repeated steps 2 and 3 twice to create the puff pastry in the picture above.)
5) Take the pastry out 20 minutes before you wish to roll it out to use.
NB If you don't have the freezer space, you can chill the pastry instead at double the time stated.
The unbaked pastry can be chilled for 3 days or frozen for about a month.