Baked Pie Shell: 2000s Recipes + Menus : gourmet.com

2000s Recipes + Menus

Makes1 (9-inch) pie shell

Active time:25 min
Start to finish:2 3/4 hr

April 2002

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Special equipment:

a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie plate; pie weights or raw rice

Blend together flour, butter, shortening, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
Drizzle evenly with 2 tablespoons ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in food processor) until incorporated.
Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn’t hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. (If you overwork mixture, pastry will be tough.)
Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion. Gather dough together with a pastry scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a 5-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
Roll out dough with a floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface and fit into pie plate. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang under pastry and press against rim to reinforce edge. Decoratively crimp edge and lightly prick bottom and side with a fork. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Line chilled shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake in middle of oven until pastry is pale golden along rim and set underneath weights, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until pale golden all over, about 10 minutes more. Cool completely in plate on a rack.