Standard Pie Crust

8 or 9 inch One-Crust Pie

1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon shortening
2 to 3 Tablespoons ice cold water

Measure flour and salt into bowl. Toss together. Cut in shortening, until mixture looks like course crumbs. Sprinkle in ice water 1 Tablespoon at a time. Let water soak into flour mixture and then gather into ball until it holds together. (Don’t mix – this will toughen your pie dough).

Put dough onto floured pastry cloth and flatten into a disk. Firm up edges of disk so there are no cracks. Roll from center out in all directions until dough is about 2 inches larger on all sides. (I hold inverted pie plate over dough to visually check.). Fold dough into fourths or gently roll partly onto rolling pin to lift dough into pie plate. Ease in dough and avoid stretching pastry.

For Baked Pie Shell: Trim overhanging edges of pastry 1 inch from rim. Roll pastry under and form a ridge around edge of pie. Flute with thumb and fingers. Prick bottom and sides thoroughly with fork. Bake at 475* for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly brown and surface looks blistered.

For one-crust pie: Trim overhanging edges of pastry 1 inch from rim. Roll pastry under and form a ridge around edge of pie. Flute with thumb and fingers. Pour filling into unbaked pie shell and bake according to the recipes’ directions.

Submitted by Traci