Vodka Pie Dough (with Parmesan Cheese)

I am entering in a pie contest on Thursday and so I began thinking of the best pie combination that was both original and tasty. What also got me thinking about was the best pie dough recipe around. I usually used Alton Brown’s Basic Pie recipe, but that has not resulted in the flakiest pastry ever, so I kept looking. My friend (that I seem to mention a lot) is a baker and there’s a secret amongst them that she shared with me! The secret is to use vodka. It adds moisture to the dough to help it be pliable and hold shape, but it evaporates as it’s baking leaving behind an unbelievably flaky crust like none other. It’s a stroke of genius!

This is the recipe derived from Cooks Illustrated, but I changed it a bit to make it better. Hope you try it out at Thanksgiving! Honestly, best, flakiest pie crust ever! You don’t have to add in the Parmesan into the crust, I just wanted to for the sake of the pie contest. It adds a savoury component to any apple based pie that’s pretty awesome!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Organic Spelt Flour
1 cup Organic Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Table Salt
2 Tbsp Sugar
2 sticks (1/2 pound) Unsalted Butter, cut into 1/4” slices, frozen
2 Tbsp Vegetable Shortening, frozen
1/4 cup Cold Vodka, from the freezer (any brand is fine, I used Zubrowka, a Bison Grass Polish Vodka)
1/4 cup Cold Water
1 cup Grated Grana Padano (Parmesan) Cheese (Optional)

1. Put 1 1/2 cups of spelt flour and 1 cup cheese into a food processor with salt and sugar. Blitz for 2 quick pulses.

2. Add butter cut into 1/4” pieces and shortening and process until the dough just starts to come together and the butter is in little pieces. The mixture should resemble a coarse, grainy texture with little lumps that are about pea sized. (15 seconds of blitzing)

3. Scrape down the sides with a spatula and add the remaining 1 cup of Whole Wheat Flour and pulse until the mixture is evenly distributed. (2 quick pulses)

4. Dump it out into a large mixing bowl and add vodka straight from the freezer and chilled water. Mix in a folding motion and press down until the dough JUST comes together. The goal of a pie dough is to handle it as quickly as possible and also to keep it as cold as possible, because the little fat pieces is what keeps the pastry flaky. Keep everything very chilled, cold and avoid touching it as much as possible.
 
5. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and wrap in saran wrap. Place in the fridge for 45 minutes before rolling it out.

6. After the dough has been chilling out in the fridge, take out one and tear off 2 sheets of wax paper about 14 inches long. Place dough in the center between the two sheets and roll out with a rolling pin from the center outwards. Have one cup of flour ready just in case. (I didn’t need it, but you might). Roll it out to be about 11 inches in diameter and an evenly distributed thickness.
Note: If you try to do this without wax paper, you will notice that it is very sticky and more pliable than normal pie dough. Do not fear, yes it has the consistency of play dough, but this recipe is great that way! It is easy to handle and roll out, and because the vodka evaporates, results in a really flaky pastry. Believe me. There were scientists involved in making this recipe perfect.

7. Take the top layer of wax paper off. Butter up a 9” pie dish. pick up the dough and place it dough side down onto the plate (as centered as possible) and press it down into the plate.

8. Cut off the excess crust or tuck it under and round out the edges. You can choose to crimp the edges now, or if you are doing a top crust, leave it and crimp when the filling is already in. Fork the bottom. Put this in the freezer while you do the top crust.

9. For the top crust, roll out the same way as the bottom, but using your favourite small cookie cutter, punch out small holes by dipping it into flour every time, or cut into the top or have a small round hole. The point is that you need a hole in the top crust somewhere in order to let the steam escape.

Chill the pie crust until your filling is ready and the oven is preheated or use right away.