1-Crust Raspberry Pie

1-Crust Raspberry Pie

When our romantic relationship was still new, I occasionally hung out with Dan at the little house that he shared with his friend, Larry, in the Proctor, Minnesota countryside .  On one particular day,I was bored because Dan and Larry were working on a car.  The afternoon was sunny and warm, filled with the scent of wild roses and motor oil, and the murmur and grunts of car-guys.  To fill my time, I walked down the hill to collect wild raspberries from the edges of their property.  After my bowl was filled with the fruity booty, I set out to make my first raspberry pie–sans recipe and sans pie plate.  In a lasagna pan, I created a pie that had 2 crusts, and was thickened with flour and dotted with butter.  It wasn’t pretty, but it was lucious.

This recipe doesn’t have two crusts.  It is lighter on carbs and fat and more focused on the fruit, but no flavor is lost.  It is delicious with a thin slice of vanilla ice cream.  The pie in the photo above was made with traditional and black raspberries.

NOTE:  Try substituting other fresh or frozen berries (e.g., blackberries, blueberries, strawberries)  for some of the raspberries.  My favorite substitution is blueberries.

1-Crust Raspberry Pie

pie crust dough (see my fool-proof oil crust recipe below)

5-6 cups of raspberries–wild or cultivated (wild are generally sweeter, but may be a bit mushier)

1/3-cup sugar (depending on the sweetness of the berries)

1 cup water

2 Tblsp cornstarch

1/8 t. salt

1 Tbsp lemon or lime juice

1/4 tsp. allspice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prick bottom of pie crust a few times with fork.Bake pie crust for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool crust.

When crust is cool, pile berries into pie plate. Reserve 1/2 cup of the berries. In a small sauce pan over medium-high heat, combine and cook reserved berries, sugar, water, cornstarch, and salt.  Stir constantly with wire whisk until sugar is melted and mixture is thick. Mix in lemon or lime juice and allspice.  Continue cooking until mixture thickens again.  Remove from  heat.  Pour over berries.  Be sure that all berries are glazed.  Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.  Serve.

CAROL’S FOOL-PROOF OIL PASTRY CRUST for 1 crust pies (rolled out between waxed paper)
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 Tablespoons COLD water

Mix flour and salt.  Blend in oil thoroughly with fork.  Sprinkle all of the cold water over the mixture.  Mix thoroughly.  Sprinkle a few drops of water on the counter or board to keep wax paper from sliding.  Put 18-22inch long piece of waxed paper (plastic wrap won’t work) down.  Put dough in middle. Flatten slightly with hand.   Put another piece of waxed paper on top of dough and roll out to pie plate size.  Take top wax paper off dough.  Flip over into pie plate and remove other waxed paper sheet.  Brush bottom of crust with butter.