I had a lightbulb moment while making pastry the other day. “Malfatti!” I shouted, remembering the Italian dumplings made with spinach and ricotta. Malfatti translates to “poorly made”, and isn’t just a recipe but a principle that can be applied to pasta and pastry alike, in that misshapen offcuts can be repurposed for both. Whether you are making your own or using ready-made pastry, you will likely have offcuts from trimming, and those leftovers are essentially a new pastry base ready to roll out and bake into deliciously simple homemade biscuits. And if you have enough pastry to make a whole other tart or pie, the best option is to freeze it, either in a ball ready to roll or pre-rolled and set into a tart case, ready to bake.
‘Malfatti’ biscuits
Rather than throw your pastry trimmings in the compost, transform it into these delicious biscuits, topped with any combination of sweet or savoury ingredients you fancy. I suggest spices, nuts and other store-cupboard ingredients that need using up.
Excess pastry
Optional toppings – flaky salt, grated cheese, seeds, nuts, spices, unrefined sugar, chocolate chips
If your offcuts are already rolled out, then there’s no need to re-roll them. Lay a patchwork of the pastry on a baking tray, without overlapping. If you have a ball of excess pastry, roll it into a 5-10mm-thick sheet and lay on a baking tray.
Next, choose your toppings. Go sweet with a combination of ingredients such as unrefined sugar, crushed nuts and chocolate chips, or go savoury with sea salt, crushed spices, seeds and grated cheese, all added to taste.
Heat the oven to 190C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Run a rolling pin over the toppings to embed them into the pastry, then bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Once cool, break into large, biscuit-sized shards. If you’ve made savoury biscuits, I recommend serving them with cheese and dips.
