Easy Flaky Pie Crust

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I thought I share my pie crust recipe. I've adapted this recipe from different recipes I found online. I love this food processor method, because it makes it so easy. You can make this dough way in advance and freeze it and just thaw it out the night before in the fridge. I do want to say that it is extremely important that the dough remain cold. It gets to warm and soft it's hard to handle and when it bakes you won't get the flaky crust. It's vital that it stay cold!

 If you're up to making a pie from scratch this is a great recipe to have in your recipe arsenal. This recipe makes two crusts. It's so easy you'll wonder why you never did this before!

Buen Provecho!!!

Make the crust. Add 2 1/4 cups of flour in a food processor.

Sugar 2-3 Tbsp

1/4 tsp salt

2 sticks of very very cold butter. In fact I used frozen butter. Cut it into big cubes.

Pulse until you get a sand consistency.

Once you have "sand" turn processor on and let it run while you pour iced water through tunnel. One TBSP at a time until you see.....

this. The dough will ball up. Take out and mold together.

Divide into 2 equal balls and wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes. You can totally make this dough ahead of time and put it in the fridge for a few days.

Roll out dough according to the size of your dish and place in dish. Add filling and bake according to your recipe.

Easy Flaky Pie Crust - 2 crusts

Pie Crust:
2 1/2 cups Flour
2-4 tbsp Sugar, desired sweetness
1/4 tsp salt
2 stick of butter, cut into cubes and chilled
4-6 Tbsp Water, iced
1 egg, whisk (egg wash)


Road Map:

1. Into a food processor place flour, sugar, salt and butter. Process until it looks like fine sand. Continue to run processor and the through the tunnel on top add 1Tbsp of iced water at the time until the dough forms. Gather the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Wrap them in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.  

2. Roll out dough: lightly flour your surface. Take 1 dough ball and roll out, according to your pie dish. Carefully place dough in dish. Slowly pour Fruit Filling of choice into dough and set aside. Roll out second dough to desired size and top the pie. Crimp the edges. Brush pie with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Make 3 slits in the center of the pie. Bake according to your pie recipe.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

 My favorite seasons are Fall and Winter. There are so many wonderful things that happen during this time of year. The holidays are just around the corner. It's a wonderful time to spend with family and friends, giving thanks to God for all His wonderful blessings and faithfulness to us. It's a fabulous time of year!

What's also wonderful is the weather. I love when the weather changes, the fog rolls in and the air is crisp and bright. This type of weather is perfect for  good comforting soups. One of the most delicious of soups is Butternut Squash Soup. It's velvety texture wraps your taste buds in a cozy blanket. Though this soup taste absolutely decadent it's not, unless you add cream then that's a different story. I wanted a very hearty yet healthy soup, so i bypassed the cream.  It's amazing how simple this soup was to make. There is some time involved because you're roasting the sqaush, but it's so worth the time. There is so much flavor in this soup and the color alone is enticing.

This soup is wonderful as an entree or side. If you want a more richer soup add cream. If you want completely vegetarian, use vegetable stock. Make it your own! Slip into those cozy pajamas and find comfort in this beautiful bowl of soup!

Buen Provecho!

Preheat oven 425F. Cut in half & scoop out the seeds.

Place on a lined baking sheet. I forgot to and I paid the cleaning price!

Season with thyme, salt & pepper. Roast for 50-60 minutes. Put carrots in half way through the cooking time, otherwise they will burn. Learned the hard way on that one, had to cut off the burnt parts. :0

Scoot out roasted flesh and set aside.

Add olive oil to a large pot. Add onions and saute until transparent, 5 mins.

Add roasted squash, carrots and sag leaves.

Add broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Blend in batches until smooth.  Add more broth if soup is too thick. Your preference. :)

Nice and velvety!

A delicious bowl of goodness! Garnish with parmesan cheese or a splash of cream. I added a sage leaf just for contrast for the photo. : 0

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup - 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash (about 3 1/2 lbs)
2 small carrots
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 tsp thyme, dried
3-4 fresh sage leaves, whole
4-5 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 Tbsp Olive oil
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste

Parmesan cheese to garnish

Road Map:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds into a bowl. Reserve to roast later for a healthy treat!

2. Place squash cut-side up on baking sheet and drizzle & spread with olive oil. Season with thyme, salt and pepper.  Roast for 50-60 minutes. Add carrots during the last 30 minutes of cooking, otherwise the will burn.

3. When squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the tender squash and set aside. Add olive oil to a large pan. Add diced onions and saute (5 minutes), season with salt and pepper. Once onions are transparent add squash, carrots, sage leaves and chicken broth.

4. Bring to a boil , reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes.

5. Use immersion blender to blend soup or pour soup in batches into a blender until smooth. Pour back into pot. If consistency is too thick, add more broth. Season to taste. Add a pinch of nutmeg.

6. Enjoy!