Carissa from Pretty Hungry emailed in the following:
I recently had a unexpected overnight visit from my father and aunt who had to come to town suddenly to care for my sick grandmother. I was delighted to have them stay with us, but I was slightly unprepared food-wise. I had already done our grocery shopping for the week a few days earlier, and unfortunately it had not involved a very extensive spread of breakfast options suitable for company.
We had one box of off-brand cocoa puffs, some eggs, some turkey bacon, a few small slices of Swiss cheese, and some vegetable odds & ends in the crisper. I could definitely see the makings of a decent quiche… except for one problem. I didn’t have any butter to make a pastry crust!
But did I give up and go back to the grocery store? No! Because I remembered something I did have that just might be the perfect substitute for butter… Frozen, reserved sausage fat!
I had been saving reserved fat from breakfast sausage for months in ice cube trays because it’s wonderful to have on hand for sautéing vegetables and making gravy. I have found that saving fat like this really helps me save money because I don’t pull out the expensive bottle of olive oil nearly as often.
I had never tried substituting it for butter in pie crust before, but I had a hunch that frozen sausage fat would taste amazing in a quiche crust and would work just as well as butter. And I was right!
The resulting crust was perfectly flaky with a wonderful savory taste. It was lovely!
Single Pastry Pie Crust
Here is the recipe I created:
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup frozen, cubed sausage fat
- 4-5 Tablespoon ice cold water
Directions:
In a mini food processor, pulse the flour and salt to combine. Add in the frozen, cubed sausage fat and pulse until incorporated. (Mixture will look like coarse crumbs.)
Add in the water gradually, pulsing until the mixture comes together in a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.
Roll out to fit the pan of your choice. Transfer to the pan, taking care not to stretch dough. Trim edges and crimp as desired, and bake according to individual recipe directions.
Makes a single pastry crust.
I hope this inspires you to think outside the box before resorting to going over-budget! I LOVE the way reducing our budget has made me more resourceful, more grateful, and more financially aware. And so far, there have been no complaints from my family. 🙂
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it 
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