Strawberry Balsamic Pie!

Strawberries are in abundance during this time of year, so I just had to pick up as many as I could!  So what to do with all of these plump, red, juicy berries?  Make a pie, of course.  This pie is loaded with tangy, tart, sweet and succulent spring flavor.

Here's how I made it:

Every great pie must start with a great crust.  I adapted this one from Kelsey Nixon:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cut into small pieces, chilled or frozen

4 to 6 tablespoons ice cold water

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour and the salt; cut or work the butter into the flour with your fingers or a pastry blender until you have large pea sized chunks scattered throughout. (You could also do this is a food processor with a paddle attachment)

Add the ice water slowly while stirring with a fork, or in the food processor, until just combined. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Divide the dough into two disks, flatten and refrigerate each for at least 15 minutes.

And now for the pie filling, which I adapted from Dulcis Serenus:

Ingredients:

6 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced (2 cups reserved)

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Pie crust

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients (minus 2 cups reserved strawberries) in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat 12-14 minutes until it thickens and begins to boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Transfer mixture to a glass bowl and cool for 15-20 minutes. Stir in reserved strawberries. This gives the pie better texture since the cooked strawberries get broken down by all that stirring.

When the strawberry filling is no longer molten hot, roll out one chilled pie dough to fit a 9-inch pie plate. (Reserve the second pie dough disc for another use or for topping your pie.) Transfer dough to pie plate, pressing the dough lightly into the plate; trim the edges. Dock the dough with the prongs of a fork evenly over the bottom of the pie plate.

Fill crust with slightly cooled filling and bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes. (Hint-Placing an aluminum foil wrapped baking sheet under the pie helps prevent sticky messes!)

Let the pie cool completely for easy slicing and enjoy!