heavenly slices of pie...

My obsession with pies continues. Last night before going to bed I made enough pastry dough for 5 crusts... put them in the fridge to chill overnight and started thinking about what I was going to make today...

Well the first two pies were the always popular Lemon Meringue. :0)

About a month ago I made an Apple and Date Pie from the Golden Book of Patisserie and it was delicious (I know, I need to add the recipe... I thought I had but see that I didn't)... but I thought, what can I do differently? I ended up with a Pear and Fig pie - complete with pine nuts embedded in the top crust ;0)

Finally I had an extra pie shell to fill... and I found a PECAN PIE recipe! I LOVE pecan pie. I adore pecan pie. So does my father. So as part of my Easter treats I will be bring my dad and stepmother a lemon meringue pie, a pear and fig pie AND a pecan pie. Can I say... who needs chocolate when you can eat pie non-stop over the next 72 hours. I am a happy happy girl! (this is just another reason why Easter is my favourite holiday)

Pie Crust
*use the basic recipe but make sure that you have enough for two crusts. Blind-bake the pie crust. keep the remaining dough. don't roll it out quite yet... now to make the filling...

Pear & Fig Pie
ingredients:
3 x large ripe pears, cored and sliced crosswise
1 c. dried figs, stemmed and diced
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. fresh orange juice (about 3 med. sized oranges)
zest of 1/2 an orange
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 c. pine nuts
1 egg, beaten

Combine 1/3 of the pears (1 of the pears), the figs, sugar, orange juice and orange zest in a medium saucepan.

Bring everything to a boil, reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the remaining pears, honey, lemon juice and 1/2 c. of the pine nuts. Combine everything well. Put the filling into the prepared, pre-baked pie crust.

Now, take the remaining pastry dough and roll it out. Sprinkle it with the remaining pine nuts (1/4 c.). Grab the rolling pin and gently roll the nuts into the pastry embedding them deeply.

Roll the top onto your pie - nut side up. Make sure that you pinch the edges well with the bottom crust. With a pastry brush, glaze the top with the beaten egg. Take a fork and poke holes into the top (you want to make sure that the steam can escape while it bakes).

Place the pie in the centre rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Reduce the heat to 375F. Rotate the pie 180 degrees (bake to front). Place a baking sheet with tinfoil underneath to catch any of the juices. Bake for another 40 minutes (check on the pie @ 35 minutes). Cool for 2 hours on a wire rack.

Sigh. This pie sounds absolutely divine.