In my family pie was an expression of devotion. My grandmother, mother, aunties and sisters all use different recipes, but they all say: “You are special and worthy of this effort.”
Tips:If you have never made pie crust, you may not have the tools you will need. Click the video link to learn about which tools work best for the job.
Ingredients:
(Ingredients are for one 9 or 10-inch Pie Crust)
Double this recipe if making a two-crust pie with sealed edges. In a large enough bowl, you can mix as many as four crusts at a time.
Instructions:In a large bowl, measure out flour and salt for as many crusts as you wish to make. Cut the cold butter into tablespoon-size slices and add to bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture. The goal is to get the butter into tiny crumbs coated with flour. Mix until the flour and butter resemble coarsely ground grits or couscous.
Add cold water one tablespoon at a time, mixing with the pastry blender between additions, so the pastry gathers on the implement. It may take up to 3 tablespoons to achieve cohesion for a one crust pie in dry weather. If it is humid, it may only take 2 tablespoons, because flour absorbs moisture from the air.
Gather pastry into ball and roll it gently against the inside of the bowl until there no cracks in the ball. Cracks in the ball will become cracks when you roll out the dough, so sealing the cracks without overworking the dough is important. You can also seal stubborn cracks with your thumbs, or by throwing the dough ball into the bottom of the bowl forcefully. Allow dough to rest for 20 minutes. This is a good time to prepare filling.
Roll out the pastry on a floured cloth covered board, or a floured silicon pastry sheet. A floured wooden rolling pin works best for this type of dough. Roll the dough ball in the flour and gently flatten into a disk. Turn the disk over and roll on other side applying even pressure all the way to the end of the crust. Apply even pressure from the middle of the flattening disk to end in all directions until you have a uniform sheet large enough to lap over the sides your 10-inch pie plate.
The crust is ready for filling now. Bake according to filling recipe.
To create a partially baked pie shell for quiche, flute the edge (see below), line with two layers of foil, and bake for 8 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. The crust may look raw in the center bottom of the plate. Crimp foil around the upper edge, leaving the center exposed and bake to desired doneness (About 2-3 minutes). Quiche filling bakes slowly at 325 degrees, so a little foil around the edge of the quiche will keep the upper crust from over-browning.
For a fully baked pie crust, follow the partially baked instructions, but remove the foil after 8 minutes and bake another five minutes at the same temperature until the bottom crust appears golden and no longer clings to the plate.
Two Crust Pies: Once your pie is filled all you will see of the crust is the upper edge. The classic fluted pie crust edge is made by folding the upper crust around the lip of lower crust to form a sealed rim. Flute by pushing the rim gently with one index finger between the index finger and thumb of the opposite hand.
Protect the fluted edge by covering it in an aluminum foil strip, or a silicon pie crust rim for most of the baking cycle. Remove edge protection for the last 10 -15 minutes of baking. A pie is not done until the filling is bubbling through the slits in the crust. If the crust is getting over-browned, use aluminum foil to protect it while the filling bakes.
