We have a strawberry farm close to us, so for a few weeks we had tons of strawberries. We actually bought so many that I had to freeze some because we could’t eat them all. I made this pie to help use some of the berries and it was a delicious way to use them. The crust was nice and flaky and was filled with fresh sweet strawberries. I topped the pie with a little granola just to give it a little crunch. The basic recipe for this pie actually came off the bottom of an old pie dish that my mom had.
Strawberry Pie
1 9 or 10 inch pie shell (here is my recipe for vegan pastry dough from a previous post or you can use store-bought)
About 2 quarts of fresh strawberries, washed and sliced in quarters
1 1/3 cups of water divided
3 TBSP of cornstarch or arrowroot powder
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of granola (optional for topping)
vegan whipped cream (optional for topping)
To blind bake the pie crust:
Preheat the oven to 375. Place prepared dough in the pie pan and trim it to fit. Cover the bottom with parchment and then cover it with pie weights or some dried beans to keep it form puffing up while it is baking. Bake the pie crust about 15-20 minutes until it is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
For the filling:
Dissolve the cornstarch or arrowroot in 1/3 cup of water. Mash about 1 cup of the berries in a small bowl. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a medium saucepan and add in the mashed berries. Let boil of a few minutes and then add in the sugar. Stir until all the of the sugar has dissolved. Add in the cornstarch mixture and stir until it becomes clear. Remove from the heat, strain out the pieces of strawberry and let cool completely.
Once the glaze is cool mix it with the rest of the strawberries. Pour it into the crust and then refrigerate the pie for at least 30 minutes. Top with granola just before serving.
