I have found it quite a challenge to make a good gluten and egg free pastry that is malleable and not too crumbly. Generally gluten gives the pastry its stretch and makes it easy to work with, and without this quite often egg is used to mimic the gluten stretchiness.
My pastry recipe makes a workable pastry, tasty pastry that when served to the gluten eating non-pastry expert, they wouldn't realise it was gluten free.
Although this pastry has some malleability, without the gluten it performs differently, where you need to handle it more carefully. There is a tendency for it to tear if rolled out too thin, when transporting the rolled pastry to the tin so patience needs to be practised to make a thin pie crust.
For my homity pie, I rolled out a circle to drop into the base of the tin and then strips of pastry about 10cm in height, and as long as I could with still being able to pick up the strip. After placing the strips in the sides of the tin, I patched up the gaps with off cuts and a dab of milk to glue the pieces together. It is easy enough to do and the end result is still as yummy!
*For a wholemeal pastry, you can use 25-50g wholewheat buckwheat flour, depending on how strong you like the flavour, and use less plain flour.
Ingredients:
200g gluten-free plain flour (or a combination of gluten-free flours*)
50g margarine (Solid type - e.g. Trex solid) - you can also use butter here instead if tolerable.
50g margarine (Soft type - I use Vitalite dairy free margarine)
1 flax egg (1tbsp ground flax meal + 2.5tbsp water - leave for 5 minutes to form a gel)
For savoury pastry add: 1-2tsp salt
For sweet pastry add: 50g white sugar
Method:
Sieve flour into a mixing bowl and add salt/sugar.
Grate solid margarine into bowl, and add soft margarine. Rub together the ingredients (or use a fork) until they resemble breadcrumbs .
Add the flax egg and form the mixture into a dough. Try not to over handle it. You may need to add more flour or water to bring it together.
Roll into a tight ball and wrap in clingfilm.
Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or until you need to use it.
Note: You can also place the dough in the freezer and defrost on the day you need to use it.