My improved oil pie crust

I've loved my oil pie crust for a long time but recently I discovered a way to better it. Add some cheese. :-) It does seem to be the universal solution to many savory dishes but here I suspect that it works also like cutting cold butter into flour to create the oh so flaky outcome which is loved dearly. Also, I changed the order of adding oil and water. Before, I mixed oil and water before adding. Now, I add oil first to create crumbs, just like the traditional method, before adding the water in.

My favorite savory pie crust 2.0

- 1 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 vegetable oil or melted butter
- 4-6 tablespoons
- 1 egg, white separated from the yolk
- You also need a rolling pin, parchment paper and a bakeware of your choice

Mix all dried ingredients (flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and grated cheddar if using) in a mixing bowl. Pour the oil/melted butter and the yolk into the flour bowl. Use a pastry cutter (or a fork/knife) to "cut" the oil and yolk into the dry ingredients so that they look like small peas or breadcrumbs.

Pour 4 tbsp of water into the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula or a fork to combine and work gently into a ball. If it seems a bit wet, add some flour to adjust the consistency, one tablespoon at a time. If it's dry, use the remaining water, one table spoon at a time. As soon as the dough is formed and not sticky, tip it out onto a parchment paper for rolling. Alternatively, you can also rest the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling.

Flour the parchment paper, rolling pin and the dough lightly. Roll the dough out to fit your chosen bakeware. This recipe is enough for a 25-cm pie dish.

The rolled pie crust can be filled and baked immediately. I prefer to blind bake before filling the pie up. To do so, heat the oven at 180C.  Line the dough with parchment paper, making sure to cover the bottom and the sides. Fill with pie weights and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the partially baked crust from the oven, remove pie weights and the parchment paper. Back in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and brush beaten egg white. This is an extra step to prevent soggy bottom. Back in the oven for 3 minutes. When the time is up, remove and cool. The crust is ready to be filled.