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A Simple Summer Fruit Pie
By: Rick Rodgers
Ingredients
Directions
Ingredients
1 c
sugar, preferably half granulated and half light brown sugar
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0.25 c
instant tapioca, ground in a blender, or 3 tablespoons tapioca flour
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5 c
fresh fruit*
Stone fruits with relatively thick skins (such as peaches, nectarines, and plums) should be peeled before using for filling. To make this easy, bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. In batches, drop the whole fruit into the water and cook just until the skins loosen, about 30 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fruit to a bowl of ice water to cool briefly. The skins should be easy to slip off. However, the skins will still be difficult to remove if the fruit is under-ripe.
*Show Note
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2 tbsp
lemon juice
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2 tbsp
unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
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0
pie dough for double-crust 9-inch pie, chilled
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0
all-purpose flour, for rolling out the dough
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A Simple Summer Fruit Pie

What’s the most iconic flavor of summer? Is it the buttery crunch of corn on the cob or an icy lick off an ice cream cone? To me, it’s the taste of a golden brown fruit pie, filled with succulent berries, stone fruits, or both. One of the many charms of fruit pie is that the formula is basically the same for any fruit, and that it can be thrown together with just a few ingredients.

1 9-inch pie

  1. Whisk the sugar and ground tapioca together in a large bowl. Add the fruit, lemon juice and butter, and toss gently. Let stand until the fruit begins to give off some juices, 15 to 30 minutes.
  2. Position a rack on the bottom rung of the oven. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place it on the rack. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  3. If the dough is very cold, let it stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes to make it easier to roll. On a lightly floured work surface, roll half of the dough into a round about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch pie pan, and trim the dough to a 1/2-inch overhang. Transfer the filling to the pan. Roll out the remaining dough to the same size as the first portion. Cut the dough into a 12-inch round and center the round over the filling. Tuck the edge of the top dough under the edge of the bottom dough, working all the way around the plate. Flute the dough around the pie dish edge. Using a small, sharp knife, cut a center slit in the top crust, and add a few more slits in a decorative pattern, if you wish. Freeze the pie for about 15 minutes.
  4. Place the pie on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375°F and continue baking until the pie is golden brown and the filling is bubbling up through the center slit, 45 minutes to 1 hour. If the pie is browning too much, reduce the heat to 350°F and tent the pie with aluminum foil.
  5. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool, at least 4 hours. Refrigerate the cooled pie for an hour or so to further chill and set the filling. Serve the pie at room temperature.

Rick Rodgers

Rick Rodgers is an award-winning cooking teacher and the author of over 40 cookbooks on a wide range of subjects, including The Big Book of Sides (Ballantine). In addition to writing the TasteBook.com column ‘”Tips from the Test Kitchen,” Rick works with entertainment figures, corporations, and celebrity chefs on their cookbooks. His clients include Tommy Bahama, Frankie Avalon, Patti LaBelle, and Williams-Sonoma. See more of his work on www.RickRodgers.com.

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