With just fresh fruit and a handful of ingredients, peach pie makes for a deliciously unfussy summer treat.
Photo by Iuliia Nedrygailova
Makes one 9-inch pie
8–9 medium-sized, ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1½ teaspoons cardamom or cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 9-inch pie crusts, store-bought or homemade
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into teaspoon-sized pieces
Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, combine peaches, cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
Take one disk of pie dough out of the refrigerator and let rest for 5–10 minutes, to make dough easier to roll out. On a dry, well-floured surface, roll out dough into 12-inch disc, enough to have some overhang all around the pie dish. Place into a 9-inch round dish, being careful not to tear the dough. Trim off excess dough to about ½-inch overhang all around. Mound the peach mixture into the bottom crust. Dot the top of filling with small pieces of butter.
Roll out the second crust to 12 inches round, and carefully place it on top of filling. Trim top dough to about a ¾-inch overhang. Tuck top dough edges over and under bottom dough edges, and flute the edges all around using your thumb and forefinger, or crimp with a fork. Using a fork or small, sharp knife, make slits in the top crust so steam can escape and not crack the top crust. Bake in preheated oven 45–60 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.
___
What’s cooking at SCLiving.coop/food/chefbelinda
Fresh fruit season outdoors means it’s pie season in the kitchen— Peaches, berries, citrus—you name the fruit, and it’s probably being sold at farmers markets and supermarkets everywhere around you this time of year. You might even have some growing in your home garden. Take advantage of this plentiful time, because nothing says lovin’ like a summer fruit pie fresh from your oven.