Old Fashioned Strawberry Pie

Our mom used to make strawberry pie when we were little. It was always in the summer when berries were plentiful in our yard. The whole family used to go crazy for it. I decided to give it a go for our Easter dinner this year as we hadn't had any strawberry pie for years. 

We don't grow strawberries anymore so I hit up a sale at the local grocers and then added a little powdered freeze dried strawberries as well to help make the taste stronger. I find the large store bought berries can often be lacking in flavor. You can skip adding the powder if you are lucky enough to use home grown strawberries. 

This version of strawberry pie doesn't use any jello powder BUT you can always throw in a tablespoon or 2 if you want your pie to have a brighter red color or you are worried about your pie not setting. Totally optional!

Old Fashioned Strawberry Pie

Ingredients

1 baked pie shell

8 cups strawberries, washed and hulled 

3/4 cup sugar

3 Tbsp cornstarch

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup freeze dried strawberry powder *OPTIONAL*

1 - 2 Tbsp strawberry jello powder *OPTIONAL*

Topping

whipped cream

Directions

Dice up 1 heaping cup of the strawberries and puree them in a blender. 

In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Add in the water, pureed strawberries, and strawberry powder. Bring to a boil and stir constantly for 3 - 5 minutes, until thick and translucent. 

(If you are using the strawberry Jello powder, now is the time to stir it in.) 

Press mixture through a sieve, scraping as much of the mixture from the sieve as possible.  Cool about 10 - 15 minutes. 

Cut up 2 cups of the strawberries and stir in about 1/3 of the glaze. Spread into the baked pie shell.

Place the remaining strawberries on top so the peaks are pointing up. Then slowly pour the glaze over, being sure to coat all the berries. Do your best to fill in all the nooks and crannies. (NOTE - you can chop all the strawberries and simply stir them into the glaze and then spread in crust if you prefer.) 

Let chill at least 2 hours. 

Top with whipped cream, if desired.

Slice and serve!

I am attempting to grow strawberries this year because I sooooo want to make this with my own berries! It's such a pretty and simple pie. You can leave out the freeze dried strawberry powder and Jello and then this delicious pie filling is only 4 ingredients. 

I know people have made it with a graham cracker crust but I have never tried it that way. It would definitely change up the flavors a bit. 

What's your favorite version of strawberry pie?