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Savory Vegan Piecrust

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Makes 1 double crust for a 9-inch pie 1x

Time about 20 minutes, plus time to chill

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Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup olive oil
  • 8 tablespoons ice water, plus more if necessary

Instructions

  1. Put the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the oil and pulse until it is just barely blended and crumbly. If you prefer to make the dough by hand, combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Use your fingers to work the oil into the flour mixture until it’s just barely blended.
  2. Add 8 tablespoons ice water. Process for about 5 seconds, or mix by hand, just until the dough begins to clump together, adding 1 or 2 tablespoons more ice water if necessary (or a little more flour if you add too much water).

  3. Divide the dough in half and put each half into a quart-size plastic zipper bag. Press the dough into a disk, taking care not to overheat, overwork, or knead the dough; use just enough pressure to hold it together. Freeze the dough for 10 minutes or refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling. If you’re making a single-crust pie, freeze one disk for another time; wrapped tightly, the dough will keep for several months. Defrost it overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding.

  4. Sprinkle a clean work surface with a large pinch of flour. Sprinkle a bit more flour on top of the dough. Use a rolling pin to firmly and evenly roll the dough, starting in the center and working outward, rotating a quarter- turn each time to make an even circle. If the dough is too stiff, let it rest for a few minutes. Sprinkle a bit of flour on the dough and rolling pin as needed to prevent sticking.
  5. When the dough circle is about 2 inches larger than the pie plate and less than 1/8 inch thick, it’s ready. Roll the dough up halfway onto the pin so it’s easy to move, then center it over the pie plate and unroll it into place. Press the dough into the contours of the dish without squishing or stretching it. Trim the excess dough to about 1/2 inch all around.
  6. If you’re making a single-crust pie, tuck the edges under themselves so the dough is thicker on the rim than it is inside; if you’re making a double-crust pie, leave the edges untucked for now. Put the pie plate in the fridge until the crust feels cool to the touch before filling or prebaking (see below), at least 15 minutes.

— Recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Completely Revised Tenth Anniversary Edition 

Recipe variations

Pre-Baking a Crust
There are several reasons to prebake — “blind bake” — a pie or tart crust. Prebaking minimizes shrinking and helps produce a nicely shaped crust. It also ensures that the crust cooks through (without overcooking the filling), giving it ideal flavor and color; browned crusts look and taste better than pale ones. And a prebaked crust is less likely to become soggy when the filling is particularly moist. Finally, when the filling is precooked or served raw, you have no other choice than to prebake.

To prebake, you need butter or oil, foil, and a cup or 2 of raw rice, dried beans, or pie weights. (All of these can be reused for this purpose.) The weight helps prevent the crust from shrinking and bubbling with air pockets while it’s baking. They aren’t absolutely essential — you can prick the bubbles with a fork as they appear throughout the baking — but they make things easier, and your crust will look better.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Be sure the crust is pressed firmly into the pan, adequately pricked with a fork, and well chilled before baking.

Butter or oil one side of a piece of foil large enough to cover the crust; press the foil onto the crust, greased side down. Weight the foil with a pile of rice, dried beans, or pie weights. Bake for 12 minutes; remove from the oven and remove the weights and foil. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking the crust until it starts to turn golden brown, another 10 minutes or so. Continue baking until the crust is completely golden brown if the pie’s filling requires no additional baking; cool on a rack before filling. Or cool, fill, and finish baking according to the individual recipe.