I promise this will fix the foulest of moods.

I was in a foul mood on Tuesday.  I’m not sure why, I was crabby, and tired and generally annoyed (not to mention annoying).  I knew I needed to go home and immerse myself into some sort of culinary project, maybe something I had never done before, maybe something sweet, and warm and seasonal and…pie.  Strawberry pie.  From scratch.  On a weeknight.

It did the trick!  As a pie crust novice, I spent some time going through different crust recipes (shortening v butter, egg v no egg, freeze v refrigerate) and finally decided on a very basic butter crust, with a very simple fresh strawberry filling.  Making the crust, cutting the berries, rolling the dough, and putting it all together provided the perfect amount of distraction from my bad mood.  And the resulting dessert?  Sealed the deal.  Even after doing dishes, I went to bed with a smile on my face.  Make this one soon, while the strawberries still look so delicious!

Photo (and taste test) courtesy of James Mitchell

Baked Strawberry Pie

For the Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 sticks cold butter, cut into 1 inch pieces and frozen for 30 minutes or more
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 6-10 TB ice water

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor, pulse until mixed.  Add the butter, a few pieces at a time and pulse until just combined.  There should still be pea sized chunks of butter mixed into the flour.  Add the ice water, one TB at a time, pulsing with each addition.  Pinch a bit of the dough, if it holds together it’s ready.  If not, add another TB of water until it does.  Place the dough on a floured surface and knead until two discs.  Do not overwork the dough!  Dust flour on the top and wrap each disc in plastic, and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour, and up to a day or two.

For the Filling:

• 2 1/2 pints of fresh strawberries
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/3 c flour
• 1/2 – 1 tsp of cinnamon

Wash the strawberries and remove the stems.  Cut into quarters, or smaller if the berries are extra large.  In a bowl, cover the cut berries with sugar, flour and cinnamon and stir to combine

For Assembly:

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 egg

On a floured surface, roll out one of the chilled dough discs, to about an 1/8 inch thickness.  Place this sheet of dough in the bottom of your pie pan, removing any excess dough.  Fill this bottom shell with the strawberry filling, and dot with butter.  Roll out the second pie crust, and place over the pie.  Seal the edges of crust by pressing together with your fingers, and remove any excess.

Beat one egg with a few TB of water to make an egg wash.  Brush this over the top of the pie, sprinkle with sugar, and cut a few holes in the top crust for ventilation.  Bake at 425 for 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. 

Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or nothing.  Let it cool and eat it with a fork straight from the pie plate, I will absolutely not judge you.

From the plate, from the pan...just get the pie in your mouth!