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Some recipes recommend using mostly butter with the addition of a little shortening in order to get a flaky crust. I cannot abide using shortening at all. I find that using one of the European-style butters, which are available in most grocery stores, under the names Plugra or Extra Creamy, gives a wonderful rich flavor and a crisp and flaky crust. So there’s no need to use shortening. 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour Place the flours, sugar and salt in the work bowl of a food processor, and process for a few seconds to mix the ingredients. Add the chilled, cubed butter and process off and on for about 20-30 seconds, until the mixture is crumbly and about the size of rice grains. Turn the machine on and slowly pour 1/3 cup of ice water into the feed tube with the machine running. The dough should start to hold together. If not, add a few more teaspoons of ice water and process for a few seconds. Repeat this until the dough start to hold together while still looking a little crumbly. You do not want the dough to form one big ball in the food processor. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead it with the palm of your hand three or four times to get the dough to hold together, and then press it into a round disk. Wrap the disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. When you are ready to make the pie, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for 4 or 5 minutes. Then roll it out on a lightly floured surface, until it is 11 inches in diameter. Fold it in half and move it to the pie plate, unfolding it and fitting it into the pan. Fold over the edges and crimp or score as desired. Place the pie plate with the dough into your refrigerator until the filling is prepared.
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