Pick-Your-Own season is here and I couldn’t be more excited.
Plus my strawberry pie recipe that’s to-die-for.
During the early summer season, I love picking my own strawberries. That smell of strawberry fields on a warm summer morning is so calming to me. It gives you a moment to just sit back relax and enjoy something so simple in life.
We are lucky to live so close to Four Town Farm located in, you guessed it, 4 towns! The main farm stand and area to visit is in Seekonk MA. We discovered this place about 4 years ago. Not only do they have the best strawberry picking in the RI/MA area but they also have a newly renovated farm stand. When shopping there you can be sure to get some of the freshest produce. We do about 80% of our weekly grocery shopping here in the summer and fall seasons. We’ll buy as much of a variety of their locally grown produce and build our weekly meals around what we are able to get there.
The variety of produce they carry is endless and delicious. Some of the must haves are of course the strawberries. The watermelon is the sweetest watermelon you’ve ever tasted. The walla walla onions are the best so get them while you can. The greens and herbs are everything. And of course, their corn is a local summer staple with locals patiently anticipating it’s arrival.
We’ll typically go strawberry picking at Four Town Farm, blueberry picking in New Hampshire, near my home town, and apple picking in the North Andover, Massachusetts. Perfect flow for the spring to fall seasons. After picking all this delicious fruit the next question becomes, what do I do with it all? Pies are always my fave. A Delicious fruit pie with a crumbly and crunchy strudel topping is my go-to this season. I also have the sweetest neighbor who is in his early 90’s, still sharp as a tack with a wife and a chubby dachshund named Lucy. Whenever it’s fruit picking season he can always depend on me to come through with an extra pie for him.
This pie is pretty simple and just requires a little patience and love. My best advice to make the perfect pie is to refrigerate it in-between steps. In my experience pies don’t like to be warm before going into the oven. Plus it will help keep its shape.
Ingredients
Pie Crust:
1 1/4 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 stick Earth Balance Buttery stick cold
1 tablespoon of Sugar
1/4 teaspoon of Salt
3 Tablespoons of cold water
Filling:
5 Cups of chopped Fresh Strawberries
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup brown Sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour + 2 TBS Tapioca starch
Oat Topping:
1 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2cup of flour
1 stick Earth Balance buttery stick
2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Preheat your over to 350 degrees
Crust:
*Start with your crust. Add flour, sugar, and salt to a mixing bowl with a paddle.
*Add butter. I cut the stick in half lengthwise and then again lengthwise so I have 4 mini sticks of butter then cut them into cubes.
*Add the butter to your mixture.
*Mix on low medium speed until you have a crumbly texture.
*Once you have that texture, on a low speed add the cold water. Don’t worry the dough will come together.
Rolling the Dough:
*If it helps, I flip my pie plate over and trace it onto a piece of parchment paper. I roll my dough out between two pieces of parchment paper. Using the traced pie pan as a guideline.
*Evenly roll the dough slightly past the guideline so you have some dough for the top of the crust.
*Carefully transfer the dough to the pie pan.
*Press and shape the edges of the crust and let sit in the fridge till ready to fill.
Filling:
*Place strawberries in a large bowl and add the coconut sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, salt and mix together
*Then add the flour and tapioca starch and mix.
*Transfer the berry mixture to fill the pie and place back into the fridge.
Oat topping:
*In a food processor add the oats, flour, sugars, salt, and cinnamon and pulse a few times to combine.
*Cut your stick of butter the same way we did for the dough.
*Pulse in the food processor until crumbly and combined.
*Carefully top your pie with the topping.
Time to bake:
*Cover the edges of the pie with a pie crust cover or some tin foil so it doesn’t burn
*Place pie in the oven to bake for 60mins and until golden brown.
*Let cool before serving.
I love mine topped with a scoop of non-dairy strawberry or vanilla ice cream.
Hope you enjoy this pie as much as I do. I know my neighbor always does.
