This will make one generous 9-inch piecrust. This universal piecrust will service all your pie fillings. Anne doesn’t chill the pie dough. She just puts it directly into her pie plate. This is the way she learned to make pies when she was 10 or 11 with her grandmother, and that’s the way grandma did it. It wasn’t until much later that Anne learned most recipes call for chilling the dough.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour, plus about ½ cup for kneading and rolling dough
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 7 tablespoons lard or solid vegetable shortening
- ¼ cup cold water
Instructions
- If your recipe calls for a pre-baked or partially baked crust, preheat your oven to 350° F.
- Combine the 1 cup of flour and the salt in a large bowl with a fork. Put each tablespoon of lard in a different place on top of the flour mixture. With a pastry blender or two knives, very lightly and quickly cut the lard into the flour mixture to form crumbs about the size of peas.
- Sprinkle the cold water over the top of the flour mixture. Stir the mixture with a fork until it just holds together.
- Sprinkle a flat work surface with about ¼ cup of the flour. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto the floured surface. With your fingertips, lightly and quickly knead the dough just until it’s smooth, about 15 strokes.
- Gather the dough together with your hands and form it into a ball. Flatten the ball into a thick circle.
- To roll out the dough, sprinkle the flat work surface with more flour. Place your dough on the floured surface, and then turn it over so that both sides are floured.
- Roll out the dough with your rolling pin from the center to the edge with light, even strokes. Occasionally lift the dough so it doesn’t stick to the work surface. The shape should be about 1 inch larger on all sides than the pie plate you are using and it should be ⅛ to ¼ inch thick.
- Fold the dough in half, and lift it into the pie plate. Unfold the dough, and ease it gently into the pie plate, taking care not to stretch the dough. (Stretching the dough will make the pastry shrink as it bakes, and you’ll end up with a piecrust the size of a salad plate. Trust Anne, she speaks from experience.) Press the dough onto the rim of the pie plate, and trim any overhanging bits.
- If the piecrust tears while you are putting it in the pie plate, slightly overlap the torn edges and press the tear with your fingertips to make a good seal.
- For a prebaked crust, place the pie plate in the oven, and bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes; for a partially baked crust, bake it for 7 to 10 minutes. If the bottom begins to bubble up, prick it with a fork. You can also prevent the crust from bubbling up by spreading dried beans or pie weights on it before putting it in the oven. Let it cool completely before you add the filling.
Notes
From Vintage Pies: Classic American Pies from Today’s Home Baker
Printed with permission of Anne Haynie Collins and The Countryman Press
Photos courtesy of Todd and Lisa Balfour
Find it online: https://diginwithdana.com/2015/02/lemon-chess-pie.html