Strawberry Pi(e)

For "national pi day" (3/14/15 - get it??), we OF COURSE had to make a pie. I just so happened to have gone to the store earlier and purchased strawberries, so we thought, "heck yes, this will be delicious." And we were right!!

First, I made my trusty pie crust with a couple of tweaks - I used probably a few dashes of sugar (maybe upwards of a Tablespoon?), no spices, AND... here's the secret ingredient... the zest of half a lemon! It made it very sweet and fresh tasting, and melded nicely with the strawberry flavor without overpowering it.  Poke holes with a fork in the crust so it doesn't get hugely bubbly (since you bake the crust prior to putting the filling in so there's nothing weighing it down), and bake for 6-12 minutes around 400 degrees. Just keep checking until it's the color you like! 

For the filling, I used a great recipe  and ran with it. It's too easy!

Ingredients

1 quart fresh strawberries

1 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 cup water

How To

Chop up strawberries into little chunks. Place half of strawberries in baked pastry shell. Combine the remaining chopped berries with sugar in a medium saucepan. Place it over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into boiling strawberry mixture. Reduce heat and simmer mixture until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over berries in pastry shell. 

Chill for several hours before serving. Serve with whipped cream on top!

I actually made enough for one big pie and one tiny pie - I forgot to take a picture of the big pie before eating it, so below is the tiny pie... and we went ahead and ate that too ;)