One-Crust Fruit Pie

For the crust: Cut the butter into 3/4-inch pieces and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Mix the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Place the shortening in 1-tablespoon lumps into the food processor along with the frozen butter pieces. Pulse about 8 times (1-second pulses) or until the dough appears slightly yellow, pebbly in texture, and the butter is reduced to very small pieces, the size of peas or smaller.

Check the dough after 5 pulses and every pulse thereafter. Turn the mixture into a medium bowl. (This dough can also be made by hand. Use your fingers to work the butter and shortening into the flour.)

Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture. With the blade of a large rubber spatula, use a folding motion to mix, then press down on the dough with the broad side of the spatula until the dough sticks together, adding more water if the dough will not come together. (Do NOT worry about adding more water; add as much as you need to make sure that the dough easily comes together and is moist. If the outside of the dough becomes wet, simply flour it before you wrap it in plastic.)

Work slowly, mixing the dough to evenly distribute the water. This should take about 1 minute. Shape the dough into a ball with your hands, then flatten it into a 4-inch-wide disk. Dust lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling.

Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

For the fruit: Prepare the fruit and place it in a medium bowl. (The berries just need to be washed and then dried with paper towels. Stone fruits such as peaches or plums can be skinned or not, pitted, and then sliced thinly.)

Roll out the dough into a 12-inch round on a sheet of parchment paper. (If the dough is hard to roll out - if it falls apart - place it in a medium bowl and add a couple of teaspoons of water. Mix gently with your fingers until the dough is moist. Add more water if you have to. Shape it into a disk and flour it lightly. Now roll it out again.) Or, roll it out on any lightly floured work surface and then transfer to a baking sheet.

Toss the fruit with the sugar and place it in the middle of the dough, leaving a 2 1/2-inch border all around. Drape the border up over the fruit in overlapping folds. Note that some of the fruit will remain uncovered.

Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the crust is very brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool for at least an hour before serving. Slice into wedges and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.