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A Blind-Baked Crust

At this time of year, thoughts turn to pie. (At least mine do.) I was in the mood for a pumpkin ricotta pie. The filling is pretty much what it sounds like: half pumpkin, half ricotta, a couple of eggs, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger. I don't often blind bake my pie crust but I thought that this pie deserved the special treatment. Blind baking is relatively simple if you have something to weigh down the crust as it bakes. I have ceramic pie weights but I know that dry beans do just as well. The crust came out golden and crisp; one of the side benefits of the process is the pure pie crust smell you can huff as you pull it out of the oven. After cooling, I filled it and baked again. The result retained the crispness of the crust on the bottom, exactly the result I had hoped for.
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