Description
Sweet and flaky strawberry basil pie is perfect for spring! You’ll love this pie made with fresh strawberries and basil-sugar.
Ingredients
Buttermilk Pie Crust
- 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, divided
- 1 2/3 cups flour
- 3 Tbsp cornmeal
- 2 1/4 tsp sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 6 Tbsp low-fat buttermilk
- 1–2 Tbsp vodka
Filling
- 1/4 cup basil leaves
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 6 Tbsp arrowroot starch
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 5 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
Assembly
- 1 Tbsp cold milk
- 1 Tbsp Turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Prepare dough: Grate 6 Tbsp butter into a small bowl; cut remaining 6 Tbsp butter into small cubes and place in a second bowl; chill bowls in freezer for 15 minutes. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl; place bowl in freezer to chill for 15 minutes. Chill buttermilk and vodka in freezer for 15 minutes.
- Sprinkle cubed butter over chilled flour mixture and toss with a spatula to coat. Use a pastry blender to cut in butter until the biggest pieces are the size of peas; fold in grated butter. Drizzle buttermilk over flour mixture; use a spatula to gather dough together until it forms large clumps. If needed, add vodka 1 tablespoon at a time, then gently knead just until dough comes together. Gather 2/3 of dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and flatten slightly to form a disc (this will be your bottom crust). Repeat with remaining 1/3 of dough (this will be your decoration). Chill dough in the refrigerator at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days, or place in a freezer bag and freeze 1 to 2 months).
- Place larger disc of dough on a floured board and dust dough with flour. Roll out dough (roll dough in one direction, then lift up dough and rotate a quarter turn and roll, then repeat) until dough is a 12 to 13-inch circle. If dough starts to stick, use a bench scraper to lift dough from board. Transfer dough to a standard 9-inch pie dish; trim overhang to one inch and crimp edges. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Place smaller disc of dough on floured board and dust dough with flour. Roll out using same procedure, until dough is 1/8-inch thick. Flour a fluted biscuit cutter and cut out rounds for the top (re-roll scraps once if needed). Chill rounds in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Prepare filling: Pulse basil in a food processor until finely chopped; add sugar and pulse for 1 minute. Combine basil-sugar, lemon zest, arrowroot starch, and salt in a large mixing bowl; add strawberries and toss gently to combine. Spoon filling into chilled bottom crust and top with fluted rounds. Chill assembled pie in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425°F with a rimmed baking sheet in the center of the oven. Brush pie with milk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar; place pie on preheated baking sheet.
- Bake pie for 15 minutes at 425°F. Reduce heat to 375°F and continue baking another 35 minutes, until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown. If pie is browning too quickly, cover with foil for remaining baking time.
- Cool pie on a wire rack for at least 4 hours (filling thickens as it cools). Once pie is cut, store leftovers in the refrigerator.