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  • 200 grams of plain flower
     

  • 100 grams of butter

  • a teaspoon of salt

  • 2 tablespoons of cold water

  • 1 egg

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

Shopping list:

Takes about an hour, resting included

 

Contains gluten and butter.

Basic Pie Crust

Making your own pie crust is simple enough not to have to buy one from the store. You can use it for both sweet and savoury pies and quiches. Make them smaller and you have the ideal crust for tartelettes.

 

The secret to a good pie crust is to bake it blindly, so it doesn’t rise and holds whatever filling you have in mind.

 


 

Sift your flower and salt over a large bowl and add the butter, after having cut it into small squares. Work the ingredients quickly to a crumbly dough, adding the egg and water as you keep working it. Normally, I’m all about kneading by hand, but in this case I would advise using a kitchen robot. The heat from your hands will melt the butter and your crust won’t be as crispy as you’d like it.

 

Quickly form a ball from the dough and wrap it in cling film. Leave it to rest for about half an hour in the refrigerator.

Flower your working surface and rolling pin and roll the dough out into a large circle. Personally, I like my dough rather thin, but you can go with the thickness you prefer.

Grease your pie mold and gently put the rolled dough in. Make sure there’s no air caught underneath by gently pressing the dough against the edges and the bottom.
 

Trim the edges if necessary and prick a fork all over the bottom, preventing air bubbles during baking. Now you’re ready to blind bake your pie crust. Put a piece of baking paper over the pie and weigh it down. You can do this with special ceramic baking pearls, but it works as easily with rice, dried beans, …

 

Slide it in an oven you preheated to 200 degrees Celsius (that’s about 390 Fahrenheit) and leave it to bake for about 15 minutes. Take out your baking paper and weight and slide it in for another 10 minutes or so, or until nice and golden.

Now your pie crust is ready for whatever filling you want to use. Blind baking it makes sure the dough won’t absorb any liquids and prevents soggy bottoms. If you’re going to add eggs, you might want to let the crust cool down a bit first, so you don’t risk cooking your eggs as you pour them in.

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