Traditional Pie Crust

Mix flour and salt in large bowl. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut shortening into flour until the mixture has a texture like coarse meal. Sprinkle water, 1 tablespoon at a time, over the mixture, tossing with a fork until the particles stick together. Don’t add too much water so the pie crust dough is sticky - that makes the pastry tough. If you don’t add enough water, the dough will be crumbly and hard to work with. Just keep going until it looks like pie dough and forms a smooth, malleable ball.

Gather up the particles, form a ball by pressing together gently, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Then divide the dough in half.

Now comes the fun part - rolling out the dough! There are two methods I recommend for this process: flour rolling and waxed paper rolling. For the flour method, sprinkle your work surface lightly with flour. A stocking (or stockinet) for your rolling pin will aid this process. Flatten the dough gently, then roll from center to edge, in all directions, forming a circle about 2" wider than an inverted pie crust. You can pinch cracks together. Turn the pastry to make sure it isn’t sticking to your work surface. Then fold the pastry in half, then in half again, and lift into pie plate. Unfold and ease into the pan. Gently press into the bottom of the pan, easing the dough down. Don’t pull or stretch the dough. Then fill it, and repeat the process with the top crust. Fold the edge of the top crust under the bottom crust and pinch to seal. Then flute as desired. You can use your thumb and forefinger to make a scallop, press the dough with a fork, or attach dough cutouts with an egg wash.

For a single pie crust, just cut ingredients in half. Bake according to recipe.