Savory pie dough ready to rest in fridge

This basic savory pie dough is easy to make and has a hint of black pepper combined with a buttery dough. It is a perfect base for all your savory pies or quiches. You will find it makes the perfect base for the quiche recipe on my website. 

The ingredients are simple and typically I have them at the ready in my pantry/fridge. Thus when I want a nice hearty quiche for lunch, or need something easy and quick for a picnic, I don’t have to run to the store. I can quickly make this basic pie dough, let it chill for a bit, and I am ready to bake whatever I am up for. This dough makes a great substitute for recipes requiring a puff pastry as a base. Since I don’t always have puff pastry in my fridge I have substituted this dough several times and it works great.Ingredients for the savory pie dough

As you can see in the picture above I use pastry flour for this recipe. You can substitute it with all purpose flour, preferably an unbleached one. I think that pastry flour yields a nicer end result, but it is not essential that you use it. Pastry flour is milled to a finer texture than all purpose flour, and is made with soft wheat for a lower protein content. This helps baked goods, like pie crusts, have more tender results and a finer crust.

Pastry flour salt, black pepper

Before you add the butter and liquid make sure you combine all the dry ingredients well. The pastry flour is sifted before use. Sifting is a process that breaks up any lumps in the flour. I always sift my flour before I go to any next step of baking. Sifted flour is easier to mix into other ingredients. Another tip is to fluff up your flour before measuring. When flour sits in the package it gets compressed together.  Measuring before fluffing may cause too much flour to be added and you will need more liquid in your recipes.

Graded butter

Frozen butter is easily grated and combined into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter.  It also doesn’t require as much strength as when you cut your butter into cubes and try to incorporate it with the flour. Since it is already tiny, it is quick and easy to cut in, and this prevents the butter from getting too warm. It is essential when making a pastry dough to work quickly and prevent warming the butter.

Cutting in th butter into the flour mixture

Butter combined with the flour mixture

When the butter is well combined with the flour, it is time to pour in your ice cold liquids, starting with the Vodka. After the Vodka is combined with the dough, you add one tablespoon at a time of the ice cold water, until the dough comes together and no longer feels dry. Keep adding more until you are satisfied your dough isn’t dehydrated. You will need to add enough liquid to form a circle. If you add too little of the liquid the dough will crack later when you roll it out.

Savory pastry dough ready to chil

Form a circle, wrapping it air tight, and put it in the fridge to chill for at least one hour. You can also prepare it the night before you need it. If it made the night before you may need to take it out 30 minutes before you are ready to roll out your dough.

Rolled out dough

When rolling out the dough it helps to start from the center and then roll outward. After you have done one side, flip the dough to the other side and repeat the rolling out from the center. This method will help you create a nice even circle. It may be helpful to dust the rolling pin with flour to prevent it from sticking to the dough. Once you have your desired circle width, gently roll it over your rolling pin and transfer it to your oiled baking dish.

Rolled out dough in quiche dish

Make sure the dough goes over your edges of your pastry dish because this will be a blind bake. During a blind baking, the pastry will shrink, and if you cut off your edges before the bake you won’t have a nice edge on your pie. Before we put it in the oven, place some parchment paper on the dough and fill it with pie weights. There is no need to buy specially made weights. I typically use any dried beans I have on hand.

Pie dough with parchment paper and pie weight

Cover your pie dough and let it rest in the fridge while you preheat your oven to 400 Fahrenheit.

When the oven is preheated, remove the cover ,and place it in the center of your oven to bake for 10 minutes. After it is done baking, carefully remove the pie weights without burning yourself. Now the pie base is ready to be filled and baked.

Savory pie dough used with my quiche recipe

 

Savory Pie Dough

This basic savory pie dough is easy to make and has a hint of black pepper combined with a buttery dough. It is a perfect base for all your savory pies or quiches.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: pie
Keyword: pie dough, savory pie dough

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 Cup Pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Black pepper freshly ground
  • 8 Tablespoons Unsalted butter frozen and grated
  • 2-3 Tablespoons Vodka ice cold
  • 2-3 Tablespoons Filtered water ice cold

Instructions

  • Combine the flour with the salt and black pepper.
  • Cut in the frozen butter with a pastry knife until you have a crumbled flour and butter mixture.
  • Slowly add one tablespoon at a time of the vodka. After combining, if the dough still feels dry, add one tablespoon at a time of the cold water. Mix quickly with your hands so you don’t melt the butter. When it no longer feels dry, and nicely comes together, your dough is done.
  • Form a circle and wrap it in cling wrap so it is air tight. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. If you have the time an hour is preferred. It is ready to be used once chilled.

Blind Baking

  • Roll out your pastry on a floured counter top. It is best to roll it out from the center towards the edge. After each roll turn the dough over and roll again from the middle to the outside. Repeat rolling until you have a big enough circle.
  • Spray your pie pan with some oil. I used avocado oil. Roll the dough over your rolling pin and transfer it into the dish. Do not cut off the sides before blind baking. Pastry shrinks so let the dough hang over the edges.
  • Put some parchment paper over the dough and fill it with pie weights. I used dried beans for this.
  • While you preheat the oven to 400 Farhenheit set the pie in the fridge to rest.
  • When the oven is warm blind bake the pie for 10 minutes.
  • After blind baking remove the parchment paper and the pie weights. Now your ready to fill it with whatever you like and finish baking.

This upside down pear pie with the caramel on top is the best! The original recipe is inspired from a blue band basic Dutch cookbook that was gifted to me by my father in law. I received this gift over 15 years ago when I moved in with my boyfriend, who is now my husband. My father in-law is the best cook I know and I will never forget the first time he cooked dinner for me. I thought his first course was the main meal and I was already full when he put a second delicious dish on the table. That was the first of many delicious and fun family dinners.


The blue band cookbook was my first introduction into how easy and fun it is to cook things for myself. I used to make this pie a lot when I first started baking.  Recently, as I was looking through all my cookbooks, I realized I had to revisit it and give it my own twist.

 I added some ice cold vodka to the pie dough to make it less dry. This makes the dough come together quickly and it’s easier to work with. 

The filling is an easy caramel sauce made with butter and brown sugar. You pour this into your prepared baking pan and arrange your pears on top. Finally, you add your pie dough. 
When baking this pie do not use a springform pan!  If you do, the caramel sauce will pour out of it and make a giant mess into your oven. Unfortunately, I learned this lesson the hard way and it made a big smoky mess.

Upside Down Pear Pie

Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: pie
Keyword: pear pie, upside down pie

Ingredients

Pie Dough

  • 1 3/4 Cup All purpose flour
  • 2 Tablespoons Cane sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 8 Tablespoons Unsalted butter frozen
  • 1 Egg
  • 1-2 Tablespoons vodka ice cold

Filling

  • 8 Tablespoon Brown sugar
  • 4 Tablespoon Unsalted butter
  • 4 Pears peeled and sliced thinly
  • 1-2 Tablespoons Lemon juice

Instructions

Dough

  • In a mixing bowl combine flour, salt and sugar.
  • Grate the frozen butter on top of the flour and cut it in with a pastry knife. Be careful that the butter doesn’t melt. You need to work quickly.
  • Add the egg and knead in by hand. Again, you need to work quickly.
  • One tablespoon at a time, knead in the vodka until you feel the dough is coming together without much effort.
  • Put the dough on cling wrap and form a disk. Wrap it airtight and let it rest for at least 1-2 hours in the fridge.

Filling

  • Preheat your oven to 350 Farhenheit.
  • Prepare a baking dish by greasing it with oil or melted butter.
  • In a saucepan, combine your unsalted butter and brown sugar on medium low heat until it turns golden brown. Poor the sauce in your prepared dish.
  • Peel, core and slice your pear in thin pieces. Drizzle the pear slices with the lemon juice then place them on top of your caramel sauce in the baking pan.
  • Roll out your chilled dough onto a floured counter top. You want to roll it into a round circle slightly bigger then your baking pan. Carefully place the dough on top of the pears and tuck the sides gently under the pears. *
  • Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes.
  • Let the pie cool on the cooling rack for 10 minutes.
  • Place your serving plate on top of the pie and carefully turn it over. You can enjoy the pie warm or let it cool down completely.

Notes

*Can be that you have some left over dough. If so you can cut out some cookies and sprinkles with sugar after some egg wash and bake for 10-15 minutes.