Joanna's Cookbook: Shortcrust Pastry

Ingredients :
8 oz Flour
1 pinch of Salt
4 oz Fat (see Notes)
Very cold water to mix (about 4 tbs)
Method :
Sift the flour and salt into a cold bowl.
Cut the fat into small pieces and rub into the flour.
Sprinkle on the water , a tbs at a time and mix in with a knife.
Finish by mixing by hand. You should have a soft, pliable but not sticky dough.
Cover with clingfilm and chill for about half an hour before rolling out.
Notes :

The fat can be butter, margarine, lard or any combination of these. I usually use butter or margarine. Many chefs swear by half lard and half butter or margarine. This gives a crisp pastry which is very good for fruit pies or mince pies.
Keep everything as cool as possible - except the fat, which should be at room temperature.

When a recipe specifies 8 oz of pastry it usually means pastry made with 8 oz of flour.