Plain Pie Pastry Recipes

BASIC SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Steps:

• Sift 225g plain flour into a large bowl, add 100g diced butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Stir in a pinch of salt, then add 2-3 tbsp water and mix to a firm dough.
• Knead the dough briefly and gently on a floured surface.
• Wrap in cling film and chill while preparing the filling.

EASY PIE CRUST

Steps:

• To make the dough for the pie crust, mix 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon each salt and sugar in a medium-size bowl. Cut 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter into pieces. With a pastry blender, cut in butter, working until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• Add 4 tablespoons ice water; work with hands until dough comes together. If dough is still crumbly, add more ice water a tablespoon at a time (up to 4 more tablespoons). Do not overwork.
• Divide dough in half, and flatten halves into disks. Wrap disks separately in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• To form the pie shell, roll the dough on a floured surface into a 14-inch round. Wrap around rolling pin and carefully unroll over a 9-inch pie plate.
• Fit gently into bottom and side of plate. Use kitchen shears to trim dough to a 1-inch overhang; fold under, and seal to form a rim.
• Crimp rim with fingertips and knuckle. Repeat with remaining dough; wrap each with plastic, stack, and freeze.

HOW TO MAKE EASY PUFF PASTRY RECIPE

Steps:

• Place your butter in the freezer for a minimum of 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
• In a jug, mix together your water and lemon juice and set aside.
• In a large bowl mix together the flour and salt. Now I'm going to sound like a home economics book, but you need everything to be cold to yield great pastry, so feel free to put the bowl of flour in the fridge to chill.
• On the larger side of a grater, grate the frozen butter directly into the flour mix. Stir the butter into the flour in with a knife. Frozen butter is my secret ingredient. The colder the butter the flakier the pastry. So remember, this is a shortcut shortcrust pastry, so we aren't folding and doing that whole process. I'm all for process, but if you get a great result with less work, then I'm all for that too.
• Add in the liquid, holding a little back just in case you don't need it all. Using your hand, bring your pastry together gently. You want to add just enough water to bring the pastry together. Too much water will not yield you a flakey dough.
• Bring the dough together to form a ball. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour. You can refrigerate it for up to 3 days or freeze it to use at a later day.
• Note: Once you put the pastry in the fridge and it relaxes it will get a little wetter so factor that in.
• To use your pastry: Follow the instructions required by the recipe you are making. Always bake in a HOT oven for best results.

PASTRY FOR PIES AND TARTS

Steps:

• One-Crust Pastry: In medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture forms coarse crumbs the size of small peas. Sprinkle with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary). Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Wrap flattened round in plastic wrap and refrigerate 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly at room temperature before rolling. Using floured rolling pin, roll pastry on lightly floured surface (or pastry board with floured pastry cloth) into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate or 3 inches larger than 10- or 11-inch tart pan. Fold pastry into fourths and place in pie plate or tart pan, or roll pastry loosely around rolling pin and transfer to pie plate or tart pan. Unfold or unroll pastry and ease into plate or pan, pressing firmly against bottom and side and being careful not to stretch pastry, which will cause it to shrink when baked. For pie, trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch from rim of pie plate. Fold edge under to form standing rim; flute edges (see Decorative Crust Ideas, page 00). For tart, trim overhanging edge of pastry even with top of tart pan. Fill and bake as directed in pie or tart recipe.
• Two-Crust Pastry: In medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture forms coarse crumbs the size of small peas. Sprinkle with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary). Gather pastry into a ball. Divide pastry in half and shape into 2 rounds on lightly floured surface. Wrap flattened rounds in plastic wrap and refrigerate 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly at room temperature before rolling. Using floured rolling pin, roll one round of pastry on lightly floured surface (or pastry board with floured pastry cloth) into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths and place in pie plate, or roll pastry loosely around rolling pin and transfer to pie plate. Unfold or unroll pastry and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side and being careful not to stretch pastry, which will cause it to shrink when baked. Spoon desired filling into bottom crust. Trim overhanging edge of bottom crust 1/2 inch from rim of plate. Roll out second pastry round. Fold into fourths and place over filling, or roll loosely around rolling pin and place over filling. Unfold or unroll pastry over filling. Cut slits in pastry so steam can escape. Trim overhanging edge of top pastry 1 inch from rim of plate. Fold edge of top crust under bottom crust, forming a stand-up rim of pastry that is even thickness on edge of pie plate, pressing on rim to seal; flute edges (see Decorative Crust Ideas, page 00). Bake as directed in pie recipe.

HOW TO MAKE MEAT PIE PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• The first step to make meat pastry pie dough is to take 4 cups of plain flour in a large bowl and mix salt and baking powder into it. If you want some sweetness too in the pie, then you can add one teaspoon of sugar into it as well. Knead well with your hands.
• Add some margarine into the mixture. Work it properly into all of the flour until it starts looking like a bowl of breadcrumbs.
• Start adding ice cold water little at a time and keep kneading until you make a stiff ball of dough. If the flour is too hard, add some more water to it, but if it gets too soft and runny, add some more flour to make it stiffer.
• Test the consistency of the dough by slightly pulling the dough and checking its elasticity. It should be elastic enough to come out with a slight pull, but should not stick to your hands.
• Grab a roller pin and flatten the ball of dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll until the dough ball becomes smooth and gets flat to around half inch thickness.
• Use a pot lid or a dough cutter to cut a circle out of the flattened dough, trim off the edges and add your favorite filling in it.
• Take a separate bowl and beat 2 eggs in it.
• Using a basting brush, apply the beaten egg on the dough edge around the filling. This will help the edges to stick to each other when folded. Also use a fork to press the edges and give it the classic shape of a meat pie. Do not forget to brush some beaten egg on the folded dough so that it turns golden brown when cooked.
• Once you have made the pastry dough and filled the filling in it, the trick lies in its cooking and baking too. You might need to cook the pie for around 45 minutes at 180 ºC/350 ºF, but it is important to check it after every 20 minutes. It is also important to place the pastry on a greased plate only, otherwise the dough will stick to the pan and refuse to come off
• Once your meat pie is ready, allow it to cool and serve. Add some homemade Worcestershire sauce to top your delicious pie. Bon apetit.

PERFECT BAKED PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Heat oven to 475°F. Mix flour and salt in medium bowl. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).
• Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Wrap flattened round of pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.
• Roll pastry, using floured rolling pin, into circle 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch from rim of pie plate. Fold and roll pastry under, even with plate; flute as desired. Prick bottom and side of pastry thoroughly with fork.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown; cool on wire rack.

PIE PASTRY

Steps:

• Rub the lard and butter into the flour with a generous pinch of sea salt until completely combined. Add the beaten egg and 100ml ice-cold water and mix until you have a soft dough. Transfer to the fridge and chill for at least 1 hr, or until needed.
• Divide the pastry into 12 equal pieces and roll out into rounds on a lightly floured surface. Use six of the rounds to line the bottoms of six individual pie dishes, leaving an overhang. Fill the pies with the mixture of your choice, brush the rims with some of the egg yolk, top with the remaining pastry rounds, then trim and crimp the edges. Decorate with the trimmings, if you like. Glaze with more egg yolk, or as indicated in the filling recipe, and chill until you're ready to cook.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 6 with a baking tray inside. Put the pies on the hot tray and bake for 30-35 mins until golden. Leave to rest as directed, then serve in the dishes or turn out onto plates.

AUSSIE MEAT PIE RECIPE

Steps:

• Sprinkle beef with 1/2 tsp salt and pepper.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large heavy based pot over high heat. Add 1/3 of the beef and brown aggressively all over, then remove. Repeat with remaining beef, adding more oil if needed.
• Turn stove down to medium high. Add garlic and onion, cook 3 minutes.
• Add flour, stir through.
• Slowly add beef stock while stirring constantly. Once flour is dissolved, add wine, tomato paste, Worcestershire, pepper and bay leaves.
• Return beef into pot, cover with lid, adjust heat so it's simmering gently.
• Simmer 1 hr 45 minutes. Remove lid, increase heat slightly and simmer 30 - 45 minutes, stirring regularly, or until beef is fork tender and liquid reduces down to a thickish gravy, just about covering beef (see video). Do not reduce liquid too much - thickens more as it cools & in pie.
• Remove from stove, cover and cool filling (I usually leave overnight).
• Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
• Cut out 6 rounds from the shortcrust pastry, then drape pastry into pie tins - don't stretch and pull pastry, causes shrinkage. (Notes 1 & 6)
• Place pies on tray. Top each pie with large sheets of parchment / baking paper and fill with pie weights (Note 7).
• Bake 20 minutes, remove, then use paper overhang to carefully remove pie weights.
• Return crusts into oven for 5 minutes or until base is light golden and dry (can skip, Note 8). Remove from oven.
• Fill pies with cooled filling, push down to fill. Should be slightly mounded.
• Cut rounds from partially thawed puff pastry - cut them slightly larger than the edge of the cooked pastry bases.
• Brush edge of pie crusts with egg, then place lid on filling, pressing edges to seal puff pastry to the shortcrust pastry.
• Brush lids with egg, then cut a 1cm / 0.5" incision in the middle using a small knife.
• Bake 30 minutes or until deep golden and puffed.
• Devour hot and fresh, topped with tomato sauce or ketchup if desired!

PLAIN PASTRY PIE SHELL

Steps:

• 1. Sift flour and salt together.
• 2. Cut shortening in flour with 2 knives until fat is broken into pea size.
• 3. Sprinkle water carefully into flour. Blend with fork to make stiff dough.
• 4. Roll on waxed paper and chill.
• 5. When you are ready to use insert into preheated 350 oven for 10 min til browned.
• 6. You can also leave this rolled up in the freezer for weeks on end----So be it by me.

PLAIN PIE PASTRY

Steps:

• 1. Measure your ingredients accurately. Too much flour makes pastry tough, too much shortening makes it crumble, and too much water makes it tough!
• 2. Stir together the flour and salt. Then cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. If you overwork the mixture, your pastry may not be flaky.
• 3. Add COLD water gradually to the flour mixture, then gentle toss it together just until it's even moist. I use a hand-held pastry blender.
• 4. To roll out dough with little sticking, use a rolling pin with a cotton knit cover and a pastry cloth. I don't do this, but it's good advice. I use a regular wooden rolling pin and a plastic pastry mat from Tupperware. It works fine.
• 5. Remove the pastry from the bowl and roll into a ball. Mash "ball" kind of flat with your hand before you use the rolling pin, keeping the edges round and not ragged. This takes some practice. Make sure your rolling pin and your pastry mat is lightly floured.. Roll pastry to an even thickness. Try not to stretch it as you're transferring it to the pie place. To do this, roll your pastry over your rolling pin and roll it over the pie plate gently.
• 6. Fit pastry into your plate gently. Trim 1/2 to 1" beyond edge; fold under and flute edge by pressing dough with forefinger against wedge made of finger and thumb of other hand. Pierce bottom and sides well with a fork. (If filling and crust are baked together, do not prick...like a cherry pie, etc) For a single crust, bake at 450 for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden.
• 7. Use a glass pie plate or dull metal pie pan so the pastry browns evenly. Check that your oven temperature is accurate. If it's too low,and you're making a two-pie crust for a cherry or apple pie, the bottom crust will be soggy.
• 8. For a double crust pie, make two pie crusts by doubling the recipe. For a double crust pie, trim lower crust even with rim of pie plate. Cut slits in top crust. Lift pastry by rolling it over rolling pin; then unroll loosely over well-filled pie. Trim top crust 1/2" beyond edge. Tuck top crust under edge of lower crust. Flute edge of pastry. If edge of crust browns too quickly, fold strip of foil around rim of crust, covering fluted edge. Follow individual pie directions for oven temp.

PASTRY FOR DOUBLE-CRUST PIE

Steps:

• Stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea-size.
• Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to side of bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon water at a time, until all the dough is moistened. Divide in half. Form each half into a ball.
• On lightly floured surface, flatten 1 dough ball. Roll from center to edges into 12-inch circle.
• To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin; unroll into a 9-inch pie plate. Ease pastry into pie plate, being careful not to stretch pastry. Transfer filling to pastry-lined pie plate. Trim pastry even with rim of pie plate.
• Roll remaining dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Cut slits to allow steam to escape. Place remaining pastry on filling; trim 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate. Fold top pastry under bottom pastry. Crimp edge as desired. Bake as directed in individual recipes. Makes 8 servings.

CLASSIC BUTTER PIE PASTRY

Steps:

• Combine flour and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed., Shape dough into a disk for a single-crust pie; for a double-crust pie, divide dough in 2 with 1 piece slightly larger than the other. Shape into 2 disks. Wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight., On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 disk of dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. , For a single-crust pie: Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Fill or bake according to recipe directions., For a double-crust pie: Add filling to pie. Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. Cut slits in top. Bake according to recipe directions.

NEVER, NEVER FAIL PIE PASTRY

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in lard until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together water, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and vinegar. Stir into flour mixture and knead dough briefly, just until smooth. Allow to rest 15 minutes before rolling out. Pastry is easier to work with when chilled. Can be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

HOW TO MAKE PERFECT SHORTCRUST BY HAND OR MACHINE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients
• Place the flour, salt, and butter in a large, clean bowl.
• Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, working as quickly as possible to prevent the dough from becoming warm.
• Add the water to the mixture. Using a cold knife, stir until the dough binds together. Add more cold water a teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too dry. Form the dough into a ball.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes.
• Use the shortcrust dough in your favorite pie, tart, or quiche recipe.
• Place the flour, salt, and butter into the bowl of the processor.
• Using only the pulse setting, pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Avoid overmixing if you can. (Too much handling can result in hard, dry pastry.)
• Through the funnel on the top of the processor, slowly add the water a little at a time until the mixture comes together in a ball.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 15 minutes and up to half an hour.
• Use in your desired pie, tart, and quiche recipe. Enjoy.