Strawberry Pie

Today I made my first fruit pie!  I bought a bunch of strawberries and as always my husband and I weren't eating them fast enough.  Therefore, they are now in a pie form so we will gobble them up.  It turned out great! Here is my recipe.

Crust:

Preheat your oven to 400 Degrees

1 C. sifted flour

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1/4 C. Shortening

4 Tbsp. Cold Water

1 egg white (optional)

Sift the flour and salt together.  Add in the shortening cutting it in until it forms crumbs.   I then switch over to my hands to mix for the last step I add the cold water one tbsp at a time until the dough flexible. I then roll it out onto a floured surface until it is a little larger than my pie dish. 

Sorry I didn't start taking pictures until I had it in my dish. I try to cut crust so that it is hanging off of the edges enough to fold  under once. I then used my fingers and pinched a scalloped edge.  Then take a fork and poke little holes to prevent bubbles.  Here is a hint for you to get a glossy finish on your crust brush it with an egg white :)

I then took two pieces of aluminum foil and gently pressed it into the center of the pie. I then filled it with black beans.  This keeps the crust down. I cooked the crust for about 10 minutes on the middle rack with the  beans.  After that I moved the crust to the bottom rack for 6 minutes.  When the crust turns golden brown remove the foil and beans.

My crust turned out like this :)

The Filling: 

1 Quart of strawberries

1 C. sugar

3 Tbsp of cornstarch

3/4 C. water 

I took half of my strawberries fresh strawberries and covered the bottom of my crust.  Because I didn't have a full quart I supplemented my strawberries with some whole frozen strawberries.  I put a cup of the frozen strawberries and the cup of sugar in a small pot on the stove. On medium heat I started to smash the strawberries and mix them together with the sugar.  In small bowl I slowly added the cornstarch to the water once it was well mixed I slowly poured it into the strawberries on the stove. With a whisk I blended it together on a simmer until the mixture became nice and thick. It took about 5 minutes.  

I took my sauce and poured it into my crust. finishing the pie I placed the rest of my fresh strawberries.  Put the pie in the fridge for about 4 hours to let it solidify together.

 Before I served the pie I topped it with whipped cream :)

Believe me it tasted wonderful!!! I loved the Crust <3