The Gambling Chef’s Pie Crust

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Serving Size: 1 deep dish pie crust

♦ 1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

♦ 8 Tablespoons (1 Stick) unsalted European style butter

♦ 1 Tablespoon shortening

♦ 1 1/4 teaspoons Kosher salt

♦ 1 teaspoon sugar

♦ ½ cup ice water

In the bowl of a food processor, add the first 5 ingredients and pulse 20-30 times, until the butter is in small pieces but not too finely incorporated.  Add the ice water and pulse an additional 7 times, then scrape the sides of the bowl and pulse another 2 or 3 times.  Empty the dough into a plastic bag or onto a few overlapping sheets of plastic wrap, form into a ball and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Remove from the refrigerator and cut the ball in half.  Roll out each half into a small disc (approximately 5 inches) and then stack the discs on top of each other (we are trying to create flaky layers), press down, and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate the dough for another two hours and then roll into desired shape and bake.  This dough can also be made a day ahead and refrigerated overnight before being rolled out.

*This recipe makes a little extra dough and is perfect for deep dish pies or pies with crust decorations.