Extra Frozen Pie Shell

As frozen pie shells tend to be sold in packages of two, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself with one extra pie shell after making a recipe that calls for a single pie shell. If you don’t have room in the freezer, what can you do with the remaining bulky, fragile shell? The following list of ideas should help you use up that bonus pie shell so you don’t have to either squeeze it into the packed freezer or let it go to waste.

- Blind baking the second pie shell (using pie weights, etc.) will make the pie shell fridge-stable for a day or two until you figure out how you’re going to use it. Great possible uses for a blind-baked shell include quiche, lemon meringue pie, or any number of other single-shelled pie recipes.

- Turnovers or Hand Pies: Cut the pastry into squares, add a dollop of pie filling, fold over to make a triangle, brush with egg white, sprinkle with sugar and bake.

- Empanadas or Pizza-Pop Style Pies: Like turnovers, but stuffed with empanada filling or pizza sauce and cheese.

- Pastry Cookies: Start with flat pastry or roll out pastry scraps. Sprinkle the pastry with cinnamon and sugar, cut the pastry into the desired shapes, then bake. This is a great project for kids, as it’s easy to do and the results are delicious.

- Pastry Crackers: Same as above, but takes the savoury route by sprinkling with herbs, seasonings and cheese. You can also use strips of leftover pastry dough to make cheese straws.

- Pot Pie Topping: Cut the pastry pieces to fit on top of a chicken or turkey pot pie.