Fresh Strawberry Pie

  I was recently at the local produce market picking up some hot peppers, and I noticed that the strawberries looked absolutely delicious! When I walked into the market, I had no intentions of buying strawberries, but I just couldn't help it, they looked so good! Clearly there must be something I can do with them. And then I thought of a fresh sweet delicious old fashioned strawberry pie. PERFECT! And then it dawned on me... do I even have a recipe? Wait, have I ever even MADE a strawberry pie before?????  WHAT?? How can it be that I've gone this long without making a perfectly fabulous fresh strawberry pie? Well, that settles it. One strawberry pie, coming up!
 At first, I couldn't decide if I wanted to do crushed berries, sliced berries, or whole berries, so I figured, why not do all three? I made a filling with the crushed, stirred in the sliced, topped it with whole. Boom. It turned out just as good as I hoped it would be, and now I can add this pie to my ever growing list of favorite pies. Actually, I've literally never met a pie that I didn't like, but still!




1 deep dish pie shell, blind baked and cooled
4 lbs fresh ripe strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
3/4 cup water
3 tbs corn starch


First, choose about 5 or 6 or your most perfect gorgeous strawberries. Set Aside.
Take half of the remaining strawberries and place them in a small sauce pot along with the sugar and lemon juice. Using a potato masher, mash the strawberries into small chunks. Heat over medium high heat until they just begin to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, add the cornstarch to the water, and stir well. Add the cornstarch slurry to the strawberries. Let simmer, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes very thick. Let mixture cool slightly.
Slice remaining strawberries, and stir into the cooked strawberry mixture. Pour filling into your pre-baked pie shell. Arrange your selected choice strawberries over the top of the filling, either whole or sliced. Chill for several hours or overnight. Serve with freshly whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.



Tips:
To make your pie really glisten, reserve a little of the thickened strawberry filling, removing any chunks of berry. Use that gel to brush your decorative strawberries on top.
If you're making a regular 9" pie, (instead of a deep dish pie) just cut all the amounts by half.
For a little unexpected summer variation, add a little fresh basil to your pie filling. Seriously!
For an extra special treat, drizzle your whole pie with melted chocolate.