Crust For Pie Or Quiche

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For a quiche or pie Nigella uses a shortcrust pastry, such as the crust for her Egg and Bacon Pie (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS). The pastry is made with a combination of butter, for flavour, and vegetable shortening for a flaky texture. The recipe is enough to make a double crust 20cm (8-inch) pie, so would be enough for two 20cm (8-inch) quiche tins. It is easy to make a half quantity for only one quiche, or you can wrap the extra pastry dough tightly in clingfilm, put it in a resealable bag and freeze it for up to 3 months. The Egg and Bacon Pie is a double crust pie and you don't normally pre-bake the base for this type of pie as the pie is baked at a fairly high temperature and for long enough to cook the pastry base through thoroughly. You may also like to try Nigella's Pizza Rustica, which is a deep-filled cheese pie that has a richer shortcrust pastry case.

For single crust tarts and quiches it is common to pre-bake the crust, which is also known as "blind baking". Usually to blind bake a savoury tart shell you would line the flan tin with the pastry and prick the base with a fork. Put a piece of greaseproof paper or baking parchment (parchment paper) over the pastry and fill the centre with baking beans (dried beans/pulses/rice used only for this purpose or special ceramic beads). Bake in an oven preheated to 200c/400F for 15 minutes then remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 10-12 minutes, until the pastry base looks dry. You are likely to need to bake any filling at a lower temperature so make sure you turn down the oven after the shell has been blind baked.