how to make a quick and easy crust for savory dishes

For a savory meat pie, a delicious quiche, or a deep dish pizza learn how to make a quick and easy crust! Using only 4 ingredients it couldn’t be more simple. If you love thin crust you’ll love this recipe!

For most all the recipes on this blog you’ll find that I use freshly milled flour. If you’re using store-bought flour a coarse-ground whole wheat will be the closest thing. If you’re curious, on my post simple berry sourdough focaccia I go in to some of the reasons why we chose to start milling our own flour.

In addition to flour, this recipe uses water, salt, and lard. What?? Lard? Why lard? And- where do I find it??

Why lard?

Well, first of all, it’s definitely a peasant way- eating the whole animal and such. But really. Lard (rendered fat from pork) has more health benefits that we’ve been led to believe over the last couple generations. There are very few of us that haven’t at some point fallen into believing all of what the mainstream and government funded heath organizations tell us about certain fats being super bad for you. I won’t deny that there is good that’s come from these organizations, but, much of what’s been said on food and all of the food and farm regulations have inhibited much of our understanding and our health. It’s only recently that my husband and I have unlearned what we’ve been taught about fat (like, crisco is good for you) and learned that natural, animal fats are what we should never have stopped eating! Our cells actually need saturated fats (which means they have a single bond between carbon and are solid at room temp) to function well! If you’re interested, a couple of books that have really opened my eyes are:

Nourishing Traditions

The Fat Kitchen

So, where can I find it?

First, I would recommend calling some of your local butchers or farms to see if they sell already rendered lard. If not, there’s always the option of buying online. If you’re looking at the different brands and kinds Leaf lard has a less ‘porky’ flavor if you also want to use it for sweet baked goods. For our purposes here, since it’s a savory crust, I don’t think the kind of lard makes too much of a difference in this recipe.

How do I make this quick and easy crust??

It really is what the title say! Sooooooo quick and easy!

First, scoop your lard into a large mixing bowl-preferably not plastic.

Next, add boiling water. Let the lard sit until it begins to melt, then give it a stir until mostly or all dissolved.

Third, add the flour and mix until a ball forms. The dough should not be too crumbly or too sticky… and there should be enough oils in it that you don’t have to put much flour on the counter to roll it out.

Then, cut your dough in half and roll each ball out into approximately a 14 in circle. Note: this recipe make a double batch to fit a 12″ pan, so, if you only want one crust you can wrap the other in a freezer bag and store it in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. OR you can use the other crust for a “lid”.

In order to transition from counter to cast iron skillet I like to fold my dough in half. Then, using either a spatula or bench scraper, transfer it to the skillet and unfold. Inevitably, it will not go in perfect- unless your cooking skills are extraordinary. Mine aren’t so I have to make little adjustments here and there as you can see.

Press the edges of your crust gently onto the pan where the sides meet the bottom. Then, if you have any hanging over just pinch them off and fill in the gaps.

Now that all the gaps are even, your crust is ready to go in the oven!

Bake your crust at 400F for 10 minutes- this is a “pre-bake” you’ll cook it longer after you put the filling in.

After pre-baking your quick and easy crust:

Finally, it’s time to take your crust out of the oven and FILL IT with something delicious! We love eating a variety of quiches and meat pies. Some ides are:

• salmon quiche
• chicken pot pie
• venison, potato, herb pie
• veggie quiche
• sausage, raisin, potato pie
• beef stew pie
• deep dish pizza

If you are not going to use the crust immediately you can also freeze the pre-baked crust for up to 6 months- you’ll need a double gallon freezer bag.

I filled this crust with cooked salmon, caramelized onions, herbs, and eggs. It was delicious! And all of the kids enjoyed it too! We love meals like this in our house. Not only are they are so easy but also a good way to get the protein and veggies all in. I think they function well as an all-season meal too. In the fall, winter, and spring when the weather is either chilly or super cold a hearty meat pie is so cozy and filling. In the summer when it’s hot a nice salmon or veggie quiche hits the spot.

Once you’ve tried this crust let me know your thoughts AND any amazing fillings you’ve tried!

~Emily