Concord Grape Pie

I am guessing that not many of my readers have heard of grape pie before. Well, if you can get Concord grapes in your area, you are in for a real treat. Everyone that I know who has tasted this pie will forever remember it. For this recipe, you will need one unbaked single pie shell. I'm a firm believer in making my own crust, though you can purchase one if you don't have the time or inclination to prepare your own. I'm providing a recipe here for the crust I made, but feel free to use your own favorite pastry shell recipe. Though the pie is delicious warm out of the oven, I would suggest chilling it before serving as it holds together better if you do.

Concord Grape Pie

Recipe by Lisa Turner Published on September 18, 2007 Sweet Concord grape pie filling — this is a pie you will never forget >Print this recipe Filling: 4 1/2 cups Concord grapes (about 2 lbs or 900 g) 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup flour 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1/8 teaspoon sea salt 1 unbaked 9-inch pastry shell (see below) Streusel topping: 1/2 cup rolled oats 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter Instructions: Squeeze the end of each grape opposite the stem to separate the skins from the pulp. Set the skins aside in a medium-sized bowl. Put the pulp in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Press the boiled pulp through a strainer to remove the seeds. Add the seedless pulp to the bowl with the grape skins, along with the sugar, flour, lemon juice and salt. Stir well to combine. Transfer the mixture to the pastry shell (see below). To make the topping, combine the oats, brown sugar and flour. Cut in the butter with two knives or a pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle the topping over the filling. Cover the edges of the crust with foil. Bake in a preheated oven at 425° for 15 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue to bake for another 20 minutes or so, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack before serving. For the crust, I made a flaky butter pie crust. The key to a good pie crust is to ensure that all of the ingredients are cold. Flaky Butter Pastry Shell Ingredients: 1 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 1/8 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water Instructions: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in the butter using two knives or a pastry cutter until the butter is reduced to very small pieces. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of ice water over the dough and combine with a fork. The dough is ready for rolling once it holds together when you squeeze it. If the dough is too dry, add more of the ice water. On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a flat circle shape with a floured rolling pin. Gently fold the rolled dough in half and transfer to the pie plate. Trim the dough and fold to make the crust edge. Crimp the edges.