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1
Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl.
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2
Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
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3
Divide into three portions.
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4
Add some of the ice water to one portion of the mixture, a little at a time, working just until the dough holds together.
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5
Set aside.
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6
Repeat with each of the remaining two portions.
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7
Gather all the dough together into a smooth ball and flatten into a disk.
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8
Add more ice water if still dry.
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9
Wrap well with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes or up to 3 days.
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10
Flour a board, wax paper, or pie cloth and use a floured or stockinged rolling pin to roll out the dough.
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11
Place the dough disk in the center of the floured surfaced.
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12
Starting in the center of the dough, roll to, but not over, the top edge of the dough.
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13
Go back to the center, and roll down to, but not over, the bottom edge.
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14
Pick up the dough and turn it a quarter circle.
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15
This will keep it round and keep it from sticking.
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16
Continue rolling, repeating the quarter turns until you have a disk 1/8 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches larger than your pan.
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17
Fold in quarters.
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18
Place the pastry in a 9-inch pie pan with the tip of the triangle in the center and unfold.
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19
Trim the pastry 1 inch larger than the pie pan and fold the overhanging pastry under itself.
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20
To decorate, press the tines or handle end of a fork around the edge.
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21
To make a fluted pattern, use both of your thumbs to pinch the dough all around the rim so that the edge of the dough stands up.
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22
Place in the freezer or chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to 3 days, wrapped before baking.
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23
To prebake, preheat the oven to 425F.
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24
Prick the pastry all over with a fork.
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25
Crumple a piece of wax paper, then open it out to the edges of the pan.
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26
Weight the paper with raw rice or dried peas.
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27
Bake for 20 minutes.
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28
Carefully remove the paper and rice or peas and paper.
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29
(The rice or peas may be used again the next time you prebake a pie crust.)
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30
Now the prebaked shell can be filled with a filling and baked according to the filling directions.
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31
If the filling requires no cooking, bake the pie shell 10 minutes before filling.
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32
If making a two-crust pie, double the ingredients and make the bottom crust larger than the top crust.
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33
Dampen the rim of the bottom crust before putting on the top one, then seal the two together.
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34
Be very careful not to stretch either dough, so they stay together when baked.
