Basic Pie Crust

Ingredients

• 2 cup plus additional for rolling out crust all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ⅔ cup shortening
• 6½ tbsp 6 to 7 tablespoons ice water, divided

Method

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Add the shortening. Rub lightly between your fingertips or cut in with a fork, 2 knives or pastry blender until the flour looks grainy and no pieces of shortening are larger than a pea.
2. Sprinkle 2 or 3 tablespoons of very cold water over the flour and stir lightly with a fork until the water is absorbed. Continue adding 1 tablespoon water at a time and stirring lightly until the dough pulls together. Divide the dough in half. Gather each half into a ball, pressing in any leftover flour. Wrap each with plastic wrap, pressing slightly into flattened discs. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
3. Remove 1 section of dough from the refrigerator. Dust the counter or pastry cloth with flour, sprinkling a little on the pastry and on the rolling pin. Working out from the center in light, short strokes, roll out the pastry until round enough to fit in a pie or tart pan. Roll up over the rolling pin and drape over the pan, easing into place. Trim the crust even with the pan.
4. Roll out the second crust in the same manner. Fill the pie pan with the desired filling and drape the top crust over the pie. Cut slits in the top to let steam escape. Trim the top crust, leaving a 1/2-inch edge. Fold under the bottom crust, crimping the edge. Bake as directed in the pie recipe.
5. To prebake an unfilled crust for a single-crust pie, prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Place aluminum foil over the crust, pressing in. Fill with rice, dried beans or pie weights. Bake in a 450-degree oven about 10 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue baking 2 or 3 minutes or until lightly browned.
6. If you don't need the second crust right away, place it between two layers of plastic wrap, fold in fourths, slip into a resealable plastic bag and freeze. Let stand at room temperature about 30 minutes to thaw.

Notes

Yield: 2 crusts. From a newspaper "Basics" cooking feature.

Original card

The recipe above was transcribed from this scan of Vera’s original card.

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