Dinner Tonight: Dottie's Strawberry Pie

6/18/2013

Gayle Campbell sent us this recipe for her mother’s strawberry pie last fall, and we have been saving it until strawberries came into season again. That time is now. Her mother developed it by going to Big Boy restaurants, ordering their strawberry pie, and then trying to figure out how to re-create it.

Dottie’s Strawberry Pie

1 (9-inch) baked pie crust

2 quarts of strawberries, cleaned

½ cup sugar

¾ cup water or strawberry juice

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons cornstarch

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup whipping cream, whipped

Bake pie crust as directed. Let cool. Clean two quarts of strawberries, cutting in half the very largest berries. Sprinkle sugar over strawberries, and add a few tablespoons of water. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours or until sugar has formed juice in bowl. Strain strawberries, retaining all the juice.

Add enough water to make ¾ cup liquid (if you force fresh strawberries through a sieve and use the resulting juice, the pie will taste better).

Pour the liquid into a small sauce pan, adding the lemon juice, cinnamon, and corn starch to the liquid. Stir until the corn starch dissolves. Heat the liquid over medium heat until it boils and thickens. Remove from heat and cool. Add strawberries to thickened sauce. Pour in pie shell and cool for 2 hours. Top with whipped cream.

— Gayle Campbell

Have a recipe that is fast and healthy? Send it to food@theblade.com or Dinner Tonight, The Blade, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660.