MY “I’VE GOT NOTHING TO PROVE” PEACH PIE

A quick and easy peach pie that tastes like you spent hours on it (although it may not look like it!)

Sometimes I break out my best pie making skills.  I carefully prepare a pie crust, peel the fruit and chop it into equal sized pieces, make a decorative arrangement out of the crust, brush it with an egg wash and put it in the oven. Fingers crossed it comes out as beautiful as it went in.

And then there are other times.

Times when I am more interested in being with the people who are here and less concerned with what the pie looks like.  Times when my grandchildren are taking a nap and I want to be ready and able to play with them when they wake up.  Times when I would like to add a gift of pie-love to the dinner table but it needs to be quick and easy.

I compromise on the pie crust.  I purchase one.  And I compromise on the fancy finish. Brush it with some egg and sprinkle with sugar. No fancy decoration.  The only thing I don’t compromise on is the fruit.  In the summer it is easy to find perfectly ripe fruit at a farmer’s market or vegetable stand so I steer clear of the rock-hard-needs-to-ripen fruit in the supermarkets.

Peel the peaches, cut them into healthy slices, and toss them in sugar, tapioca pearls, vanilla, lemon juice and a little salt.  Let that sit for a full 15 minutes to allow the tapioca to start to soften. Don’t skip this step unless you like a hard crunch in your pie!

Preheat the oven, roll out the pie crust and fill it with the fruit.

Top the pie with the second crust. Pierce it two or three times with a fork.  Whisk an egg and brush it all over the crust.  Finally give it a good sprinkling of sugar, Demerara sugar if you have it.

Bake it in a very hot oven for 15 minutes then turn the oven down and cook it until the top is beautifully browned and it is bubbling.

This less-than-perfect pie had part of the crust fall off as it baked. No matter, it made a nice treat dipped in the pie juices that had dripped on to the tray as it baked!

Take it out of the oven to cool.  Kiss your grandchildren, grab a towel and head to the beach.

I guarantee you your pie will be perfection!

It may not look like much but it tastes great!

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“I’VE GOT NOTHING TO PROVE” PEACH PIE

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Servings 1 pie

Author Susan Murray, www.awomancooksinasheville.com

Ingredients

• Ready-to-Roll Purchased pie crust 2 sheets
• 8-10 large ripe peaches
• ¾ c sugar
• ¼ c instant tapioca pearls
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Juice from ½ fresh lemon
• Pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• Demerara sugar

Instructions

1. Peel the peaches and slice them into 1” slices. Put the peach slices in a large bowl. Add the sugar, tapioca, vanilla, lemon juice and salt. Toss them all together until well mixed and set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out one of pie crusts to fit your pie tin with about 2 inches hanging over.
3. When the 15 minutes has passed, spoon the peaches into the prepared pie tin. Roll out the second crust and place it over the peaches. Roll or crimp the edges to seal.
4. Whisk the egg well and brush over the entire top crust. Sprinkle with Demerara sugar (or cane sugar). Pierce the crust 3-4 times with a fork or a knife. Put the pie on a baking sheet and place in the hot oven.
5. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking the pie for 45 minutes or until the crust is browned and the juices are bubbling up around the edges.
6. Let the pie cool to room temperature to set.