bake blind

bake blind
 v. phr.— «When recipes tell you to bake blind, they don’t mean cover your eyes. Baking blind is the term for cooking a pie shell—partially or completely—without any filling. You shouldn’t just pop the shell in the oven. It’ll puff or blister. Prick it with a fork, cover it with parchment (preferably) or foil or a smaller pie plate, then weigh the dough down to prevent it from puffing or blistering. Then you remove the weights and either fill the crust or continue to cook it empty until the edges start to brown.» —“Try weights when ‘baking blind’” by Susan Sampson Toronto Star (Canada) Mar. 31, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)