Kitchen Collection [39]

I make a lot of pie crusts for French-style tartes aux fruits and quiches, which are one-crust pies. Pies with two crusts are usually called tourtes. For the one-crust pies, my pâte brisée is always better when I've blind-baked it before filling it.

To do this, I put the crust in its buttered pan, poke some holes it in with the tines of a fork, then line the crust with a piece of kitchen parchment, or papier sulfurisé as it's called here. Then the pie weights go in.

I've heard that you can use beans or rice, but I got these ceramic weights from a kitchen store back in San Francisco many years ago and they work great. The weights keep the pie crust from rising up out of the pan while it pre-bakes without a filling.

After about fifteen minutes in a hot oven, the crust is ready to cool a bit and be filled with good stuff, then it goes back into the oven for the final baking. The crust is always done and never soggy.