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PASTRY DOUGH:
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1. First prepare the pastry dough in the following manner: Combine the 4 cups of sifted flour and ½ teaspoon of salt, and sift them together into a large chilled mixing bowl.
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2. Drop in the ½ pound of butter bits and the lard and, working quickly, use your fingertips to rub the flour and fat together until the mixture looks like flakes of coarse meal. Pour 8 tablespoons of ice water over the mixture all at once, and gather the dough into a ball.
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3. If the dough crumbles, add up to 4 tablespoons more ice water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the particles adhere. Dust lightly with flour, wrap the dough in wax paper and chill for 30 minutes.
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4. Place the dough on a lightly floured board or table, and press it into a rectangular shape about 1 inch thick. Dust a little flour over and under it, and roll it out into a strip about 21 inches long and 12 inches wide. Fold the strip into thirds to form a three-layered rectangular packet, reducing its dimensions to about 7 by 12 inches.
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5. Turn the dough around so that an open end faces you and roll it out once more to a 21-by-12-inch strip. Fold it into thirds as before and roll it out again to a similar strip. Repeat this entire process twice more, ending with the dough folded into a 7-by-12-inch packet.
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6. Wrap the dough tightly in wax paper, foil or a plastic bag, and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour. The dough may be kept in the refrigerator for 3or 4 days before it is used.
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FILLING:
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1. To make the pie filling, soak the live crawfish in cold water for at least 10 minutes, then wash them thoroughly, a small batch at a time, in a sieve or colander set under cold running water. In a heavy 8- to 10-quart pot, bring about 4 quarts of water to a boil over high heat. Using tongs drop in the crawfish and boil them briskly, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
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2. Drain the crawfish and, when they are cool enough to handle, shell them one at a time in the following manner: With your hands, break off the ridged tail, snap it in half lengthwise and lift out the meat in one piece. If you like, you can snap off the large claws, break them with a nutcracker and pick out the bits of claw meat. (There should be about 4 cups of crawfish meat.)
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3. Some or all of the yellow fat, or "butter," from the body of the crawfish may slide out when you break off the tail. If it does not, cut off the top of the shell just behind the eyes, scoop the shell clean with the tip of a finger or your thumb and pick out the yellow fat. Place the crawfish meat and fat in a deep bowl and set it aside.
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4. In a heavy 10- to 12-inch skillet, melt the 4 tablespoons of butter over moderate heat. Add the onions, scallions, celery, green pepper and garlic and, stirring frequently, cook for about 5 minutes, or until they are soft and translucent but not brown.
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5. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the ¼ cup of unsifted flour. When it is well incorporated, add the tomato paste, parsley, red pepper and ½ teaspoon of salt. With a rubber spatula, scrape the entire contents of the skillet over the crawfish meat and fat and toss them together gently but thoroughly.
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6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. To assemble the pie, spread the tablespoon of softened butter over the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Cut off half the chilled dough and, on a lightly floured surface, pat it into a circle about 1 inch thick.
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7. Dust a little flour over and under it and roll it out from the center to within an inch of the far edge of the dough. Lift the dough and turn it clockwise about 2 inches; roll again from the center to within an inch or so of the far edge. Repeat-lifting, turning, rolling - until the circle is about ¼ inch thick and 13 to 14 inches in diameter.
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8. Drape the dough over the rolling pin, lift it up and unroll it over the buttered pie pan. Gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan, being careful not to stretch it.
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9. With scissors cut the excess dough from the edges leaving a 1-inch overhang around the outside rim. Fill the pie shell with the crawfish mixture, mounding it somewhat higher in the center. Then roll out the remaining half of the dough into a 13-inch circle about ¼ inch thick.
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10. With a pastry brush dipped in cold water, lightly moisten the outside edge of the pastry shell. Drape the circle of dough over the rolling pin, lift it up and drape it gently over the filling.
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11. With scissors cut off the pastry even with the bottom crust, then crimp the top and bottom crusts together firmly with your fingers or press them together with the tines of a fork. Trim the excess pastry from around the rim with a sharp knife and cut two or three l-inch-long parallel slits about ½ inch apart in the top of the pie.
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12. Bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Serve the crawfish pie at once.
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