As with any recipe by Ina Garten, the question is not whether the dish will be great: it will be. Rather, the question usually is: “How much butter can I leave out, and still have a great dish?”
In this case, Ina called for twelve tablespoons of butter, which struck me as a bit much. I consulted my Cooking Light Dessert book, and found a nearly identical recipe, calling for six tablespoons. Being my judicious self, I simply split the difference. And sure enough, I still ended up with a delicious and easy-to-make pie crust. Perfect for an apple pie!
Kudos, again, to Ina!
Ina Garten’s Perfect Pie Crust
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa: Family Style.
PREP TIME: 30 minutes of chilling
YIELD: Two 10-inch pie crusts
WHAT TO GRAB:
9 tablespoons very cold, unsalted butter
5 tablespoons very cold vegetable shortening (Ina prefers Crisco)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold water
HOW YOU DO IT:
1. Dice the butter. Once diced, place it in the freezer. Place the water and shortening in the freezer.
2. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to mix the ingredients. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, or 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.
3. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Cut the dough in half. On a well-floured board, roll each piece into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge. Turn and flour the dough, as necessary, to ensure 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 once ready!
Ha, so true about Ina’s recipes. I’ll have to refer back to this next time I make a pie crust – my last (and first) one shrunk, and my friends said it was from too much butter.