Richard Burr's puff-ect pastry recipe

:: GREEN OLIVE AND ROSEMARY FOCACCIA

(Makes 2)

500g strong white bread flour, plus more if needed

2tsp table salt

1tbsp 'quick' yeast

50ml olive oil, plus more to knead, prove and shape

350ml water

20 pitted green olives, in brine or oil

A few sprigs of rosemary

Sea salt flakes and freshly coarse-ground black pepper

Measure the flour, salt and yeast into a bowl, making sure you add the salt and yeast to opposite sides of the bowl, then mix with a wooden spoon. Add the 50ml of olive oil and all the water, and combine with the spoon until you have a wet dough.

Pour about two tablespoons of olive oil on to a work surface and tip out the dough on to it. Knead for at least 10 minutes. The dough will be sloppy and this is going to be a messy business, so don't worry if you get your hands covered. Use your judgement about whether to add more flour; don't add too much, as it should remain a wet dough.

Oil an ice-cream tub or any large plastic container (more than 2L capacity) and plop the dough in. Cover with cling film and leave to rise at room temperature for one to one-and-a-half hours, until it has at least doubled in size. It might be worth taking a photo of the dough on your phone so you can compare later to see whether it has risen enough.

Pour another couple of teaspoons of oil on to a work surface and gently tip out the risen dough. Take two long knives and oil the blades. Cut the dough into two equal pieces: use one knife to cut them, then slide the other knife alongside the first and use both knives to push the halves apart. (This is the easiest way of prising the dough into two pieces.)

Gently pick up each half and place on a baking tray, lined with baking parchment, forming each into a thin lozenge shape.

Cover with a plastic bag and leave to rise for 45 minutes. (The bag shouldn't touch the loaves but should form a tent around them.)

Preheat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7 and uncover the dough.

Cut the olives in half lengthways and press firmly into the dough.

Drizzle with a few more tablespoons of oil and lay cut sprigs of rosemary on top. Season with sea salt flakes and pepper.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, then remove and cool on two wire racks.

Drizzle with more olive oil before cutting into strips and eating.

:: PUFF PASTRY - FOR THE MILLEFEUILLE AND WELLINGTON RECIPES

225g strong white bread flour, plus more to dust

1/2tsp table salt

225g unsalted butter, chilled

1tsp lemon juice

This is very important (and a bit like a choose-your-own-adventure): If you don't have a day to prepare, just buy a pack of all-butter puff pastry from the shops and move straight to the millefeuille or wellington recipe. If you do have a day to prepare, to make the puff pastry, first mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, then chop 25g of the butter and rub into the flour with your fingers.

Add the lemon juice and 140ml of cold water and mix with a knife until the mixture is brought together enough to handle. Tip out on to a floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic (probably five to 10 minutes). Allow the dough to rest for five minutes.

Roll out on a floured surface to a rectangle of 51 x 17cm (or thereabouts). You need quite a bit of worktop space for this. Roll out the remaining 200g butter between sheets of cling film to a large rectangle of 33 x 15cm. You'll need to peel off and reapply the cling film regularly to stop it ripping.

Working quickly now, peel the top layer of cling film off the butter and flip the butter onto the rolled-out dough, covering two-thirds of the length of the dough and also leaving a clear rim around all the edges. Fold the unbuttered dough on to half of the butter and press the edges to seal the butter in. Fold this layer over to cover the remaining butter and press down the edges all round to form a 17cm square: two layers of butter separated by three layers of dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Take out of the fridge and roll back out to about 51 x 17cm. Fold up into thirds as before, to make a square. Turn the square through 90 degrees and roll out to 51 x 17cm again, then fold up as before. Wrap in cling film and chill for another 30 minutes.

Repeat the last step, so the pastry has been folded a total of five times. Chill for another 30 minutes.

:: FIG AND ANISE MILLEFEUILLE

(Makes 10)

For the pastry:

2/3 quantity puff pastry dough (or you can cheat and buy it ready-made)

Plain flour, to dust

Icing sugar, to dust

For the custard:

170ml whole milk

3 star anise

2 egg yolks

35g caster sugar

11/2 tbsp cornflour

100ml double cream

For the figs in syrup:

4 baby figs

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange

50g light brown muscovado sugar

1 cinnamon stick

Follow the instructions to make the pastry (if you're not using shop-bought), rolling it out to about 45 x 15cm each time and chilling in the fridge.

Now for the custard. Pour the milk into a saucepan with the star anise and set over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then take off the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.

Put the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and whisk with the caster sugar and cornflour, using a hand or electric whisk.

Once the milk has infused, fish out the star anise and pour the milk into the egg mixture, whisking as you do so. Pour back into the saucepan and set over a low heat. Stir constantly, using a silicone spatula, until the custard thickens up, then quickly scrape into a clean bowl. Lay cling film on the surface of the custard (to stop a skin forming) and put in the fridge to cool.

While the pastry is chilling in the fridge, you can poach the figs. Cut each fig into sixths, put in a saucepan with the orange zest and juice, sugar and cinnamon stick and set over a low heat.

Once simmering, cook for eight to 10 minutes, occasionally turning the figs. Fish the figs out of the saucepan and lay on a plate. Put in the fridge to cool.

Preheat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Line a baking tray with baking parchment and take the pastry out of the fridge.

Roll it out on a floured surface to a neat rectangle 30 x 25cm and lay this on the baking tray. Lay another sheet of baking parchment on top of this and weigh it down with another baking tray to stop the pastry from puffing up too far. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Take the tray off the top of the pastry and return to the oven for another 10-12 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the oven, take the pastry off the tray and off the baking parchment. Set on a wire rack to cool down.

Returning to the custard, whip the cream with an electric whisk until it forms soft peaks. Take the now-cooled custard out of the fridge and fold in the whipped cream, a couple of tablespoons at a time. Load into a piping bag and snip the end to make an opening about 5mm in diameter.

Once the pastry is completely cooled, put it on a chopping board and carefully cut into three rectangles of 25 x 10cm. Cut each of these into 10 pieces, each 10 x 2.5cm, to give 30 neat fingers of puff pastry. Some of the outside ones may be a bit ragged, but those are generally the baker's treats!

Assemble each pastry: Pipe 14 small blobs (two rows of seven) of custard on to the bottom layer of pastry. Lay the next layer on top and pipe on another 14 blobs of custard.

Take the figs out of the fridge and cut each segment in half (giving you 48 segments). Lay segments of fig on top of the custard, all facing in the same direction. You might have a few fig pieces left over, depending on size.

Lay a third layer of pastry on top and dust with a little icing sugar.

Repeat to assemble all the pastries.