My mom made an olive oil dough for anything from savory tarts to double-crust apple pie. Hers was a take on my grandma’s olive oil crust recipe, and my take is a further variation within three generations of recipe telephone. I love this crust for a few reasons. 1) It comes together in one bowl with four ingredients, including salt and water. 2) It requires no rest or rising; the dough is easy to roll out as soon as it comes together. 3) A generous amount of olive oil lends a deeply browned, cracker-like crust that’s sturdy and hearty, a texture and flavor profile I’ve come to crave since childhood.
Once you’ve made the dough a couple of times, try playing with the flavor profile. I’ll add a teaspoon of toasted, crushed fennel seeds or freshly ground pepper into the flour. Maybe a tablespoon of dried rosemary makes its way into the mix. A teaspoon of cinnamon plus a 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom makes a nice flavor base for a sweeter route, like an olive oil galette with sliced pears.