This pie crust came together like magic. I had some idea of the ingredients from previous attempts, but I made a couple of changes that did the trick!

This recipe calls for xanthan gum and ground flax meal as  binders. It’s elastic and easy to handle, a big improvement over my earlier attempts. When I swooshed in the liquid, those dry ingredients just pulled together. I was thrilled.
I rolled it out on waxed paper and peeled it off. It was that easy! Pre-baking for about 7 minutes gave the dough a head-start before I added the filling .

*BAKING TIP*  Spritz a light coat of cooking spray on the waxed paper and on your rolling pin to keep dough from sticking. 

GLUTEN-FREE PIE CRUST

Mix together dry ingredients:

2/3 C brown rice flour

1/3 C arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)

1 tsp. xanthan gum (sold at health food stores)

¼  tsp. salt

Cut into dry ingredients:

6 Tbs. butter

In a small bowl, mix and let sit five minutes:

1 Tbsp ground flax

1/4 cup water

Add water and flax mixture to dry ingredients. Wet hands with water and gather into a ball.

On counter-top, roll out a sheet of waxed paper.  Gently roll dough into a circle. If more moisture is needed, dip hands under water and lightly work into dough until it is just the right consistency.

Preheat oven to 425

Peel dough off waxed paper and press into  9” pie pan. Bake for 7 minutes. This gives the crust a head-start. Add filling and return to oven.

For quiche, reduce heat to 400⁰ F and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Then reduce heat again, to 350 ⁰ F.  And finish baking another 20 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

My first filling for this new crust was a ZUCCHINI-RICOTTA PIE (recipe follows). The second was CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE. For this pie, I baked the crust completely before filling with a recipe I found online and adapted using natural cocoa. Often gluten-free baked goods are more difficult to brown. I make sure to turn my crust during baking to ensure even heat, and am happy with a lightly browned finished product.

ZUCCHINI-RICOTTA PIE FILLING

1 cup ricotta cheese

¼ cup feta cheese (or other crumpled or grated cheese)

3 eggs

1 tsp. salt

Few dashes pepper

¾ cup grated zucchini PLUS 1/4 cup for topping (substitute asparagus tips, crumpled bacon and spinach, etc.)

½ chopped onion or several stalks diced green onion

Topping: Tomato salsa

Mix in bowl: ricotta, feta (or other) cheese, eggs, squash, onion, salt and pepper. Pour into lightly baked crust. Drizzle salsa in a circle and sprinkle remaining zucchini in the center.

 

Take out the crust and pour in filling. Drizzle salsa on the top.

Bake 10 minutes at 400⁰F, and then reduce heat to 350⁰F Bake an additional 20 minutes or until fork comes out clean.