J Kenji Lopez-Alt developed a super easy pie dough recipe, intended for sweet pies. I made a few simple modifications, with the same techniques, to produce an awesome dough for a savory pie. If you have a food processor, you can whip up a double crust batch in about 10 minutes. You do need to give it a couple hours in the fridge before you try to roll it out, so you do need to think ahead a bit. But it keeps well in the fridge. It can also be frozen for a few months, so when you have things out to make a batch, you might as well make two and put some in the freezer.
The technique goes like this: Measure out your flour and butter. Cut the butter into pats. Put 2/3 of the flour in the food processor with the butter and pulse until all the of the flour has been integrated into the butter and clumps begin to form. Add the remaining flour and pulse a little bit more. Dump everything into a mixing bowl and mix in some well chilled water. That’s basically it. Cut the dough into two equal pieces, form them into small, thick disks, wrap them in plastic wrap and chill before rolling.
This dough bakes up into a crisp and tender crust with a nice flakiness. Coating grains of flour in butter impedes the development of a gluten matrix, keeping the crust nice and tender.
Kenji’s recipe is perfect for sweet pies. To make the dough appropriate for savory pies, I removed the sugar from the recipe, and I specify a blend of half all-purpose and half whole wheat flours. There’s also the option to go even more savory by adding some fresh or dried herbs or finely grated aged cheese.
Easy Savory Pie Dough
Equipment
- Food processor.
Ingredients
- 175 grams all-purpose flour about 1.25 cups
- 175 grams whole wheat flour about 1.25 cups
- 5 grams salt about 1 tsp
- 2.5 sticks cold butter (straight from fridge) 12 ounces/280 grams, cut into 1/4" pats
- 6 tbsp ice cold water 85 grams
- herbs or aged cheese, optional see notes
Instructions
- Roughly combine the all-purpose and whole wheat flours along with the salt in a mixing bowl.
- Prepare the food processor with it's basic blade. Add 2/3 of the flour mixture to the food processor. Spread the butter pats evenly on top of the flour. Pulse just until there is no dry flour, and the dough begins to clump.
- Spread the dough out evenly at the bottom of the food processor and add the remaining flour on top. Pulse a few times. The dough should break up into bits ranging from powder sized to pea sized..
- Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl. Optionally add herbs or aged cheese at this point. Sprinkle with cold water and then fold and press the dough until it forms a ball. A silicon spatula can work, but I usually end up using my hands.
- Split the dough ball into two equally sized pieces. Form each piece into a rough ball and then press into a disk shape that is 4-6" across. The closer the disk is to pie crust shape and size, the easier it will be to roll out.
- Wrap the disks tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before rolling and baking. For make ahead, the disks may also be frozen for up to 3 months. Allow them to thaw in the refridgerator for a day before you try to roll them out.
Notes
- Instead of 100% all-purpose flour, I use a 50/50 split between all-purpose and whole wheat.
- The original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of sugar. To make this recipe more appropriate for savory applications, such as galettes, I removed sugar from the recipe.
- I added the option for herbs or aged cheese. This can take the crust up a notch, as long as the seasoning matches flavor profile of the recipe in which the crust is used. Your choice of about 2 tsp of dried herbs or 2 Tbsp of fresh herbs or an ounce of finely grated aged cheese.
