Basic Butter Pastry

Yield: Two 8" or 9" crusts or one 10" crust

The vegetable shortening tenderizes and makes this crust a little lighter and flakier than all-butter crust, but keeps the rich, buttery taste. If you use margarine instead of butter the texture will be good, but you'll lose the butter flavor.

2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ ( ½ stick) very cold butter
3 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
4 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Put flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl and mix well. Cut the butter into 8 to 10 slices and drop them on the flour along with the vegetable shortening. Cut in the fat until the mixture is like coarse cornmeal. Add 2 tablespoons of the water and mix quickly with a fork. If the dough is still crumbly, sprinkle on more ice water, a teaspoon at a time, until the dough just holds together.

Gather the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.