Concord-Grape Pie

Pie filling

4 cups Concord grapes

¾ cup sugar

3 Tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Slip skins from grapes by pinching each grape-pulp into medium saucepan; reserve skins. Heat grape pulps to boiling, simmer just until pulp dissolve and seeds separate from pulp; do not let juice evaporate completely from pulp. Press pulp through sieve into medium bowl to remove seeds. Add grape skins, sugar, tapioca and lemon juice; mix well; let stand while preparing pastry.

Pastry

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch chunks

3 Tablespoons ice water

Preheat oven to 425°F. To make the pastry, stir together the flour and salt in a bowl. Use a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the butter until pea-size balls form. Add the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time while turning the dough lightly with a fork and then with your finger-tips. (Do not overwork, or it will become tough.) Gather the crumbly dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Roll pastry to cover 11 inch round, 1 inch high, loose bottom quiche pan. Use roller to trim off excess pastry around top of quiche pan to form a uniform edge around pan. Fill grape pie filling into prepared quiche pan and bake for 10 minutes; remove from oven. Reduce oven to 350°F.

Cheese Topping

1 8-ounce package cream cheese

2 eggs

½ cup sugar

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, eggs and ½ cup sugar until smooth. Cover baked pie with cheese topping and bake for another 30 to 35 minutes until set; cool on wire rack; chill.

The pie filling and cheese topping were found in “The Good Housekeeping Cookbook”; the pastry is a French recipe for a pizza crust found in Williams – Sonoma’s cookbook “Savoring France” by Georgeanne Brennan. Pie photos by Sara; pans and strainer by fantes.com. For cooking ware web sites see my links to Williams – Sonoma and Fantes.com.