Recipe Monday

Today's recipe for the perfect pie crust. As the holidays are approaching I have been looking for new recipes to try this year. Since pies are always a holiday favorite I wanted to find a great crust recipe to compliment the pie. The other day I was watching the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network and she was making apple pie. I loved how easy her pie crust recipe was and thought that I would give it a try. I made a pie the other day and the crust was wonderful, if going to make a pie give this crust recipe a try.

Perfect Pie Crust

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.


Recipe Source:Barefoot Contessa