Pie pastry

godinman · 23 Nov 2012 at 12:37

Hi All,

I've got me a pie dish, I now want to make a pie. The internals of said pie are easy enough, just lots of lovelies and a bit of flour for consistency.

It's the outer layer that I'm concerned about, what's the simplest way of making pastry? How do you stop the bottom from going soggy? Can I just cheat and use just-roll? (At least for the top).

And a thankyou.

Ahleckz · 23 Nov 2012 at 12:46

Oooh, the pastry debate. I personally just use Just Roll if I'm just making a normal pie for my dinner. Can't be done with the faff of making pastry, rolling it out, yadda yadda. Always had fine results for me. I've made my own pastry a few times when making nice dinners for friends and it's always turned out OK but it's just not worth it in my opinion.

As for soggy bottoms, I find that it helps if I put the pie on the bottom of the oven to begin with so more heat is concentrated on the bottom. You can also buy baking stones (similar to a pizza stone, I guess) which will concentrate heat on the bottom. Also, make sure that the fillings are cool when you add them to the pie. The idea is that hot fillings will create steam/moisture which will seep into the pastry but cold filling won't (or at least, as much).

blues_r_best · 23 Nov 2012 at 12:55

Shortcrust is pretty simple to make. Flour and cold butter rubbed together until it looks like breadcrumbs then just enough water to bring it together. Once together, wrap in clingfilm and put it in the fridge to relax for 20 mins, then roll out.

To stop a soggy bottom, roll the pastry thin and/or put a baking tray in the oven to get hot and the heat from the tray will help prevent this.

PapaLazaru · 23 Nov 2012 at 14:11

Just buy it pre-made. It is cheap and of good enough quality that I do not miss making my own.

HeadlessChicken · 23 Nov 2012 at 17:24

I love rough puff. Dead easy to make and better than pre-made IMO, especially if you blind bake the bottom half

godinman · 24 Nov 2012 at 13:04

Cheers for the advice guys, my gf ended up making it, used just-roll shortcrust. It was blooming lovely, beef and mushroom, with mash, sprouts and..er, something else. But yeah, the justroll stuff is awesome, no probs at all. She did line the tray and then put it in the oven for a couple of minutes which my have helped with soggyness.