What Do You Mean, That's Not Interesting?: Pineapple Pie

Yesterday was my boss's last day of work before retirement, so Wednesday all of at work decided to throw him a party. Since there was no way we'd be able to get him to go out anywhere after work, we had a potluck lunch (actually more like an all-day feast). He likes pineapple pie, and was, in fact, the one who gave me this recipe, so I decided to bring that. For the pie crust you'll need 2 3/4 C flour; 1 tsp salt; 1 C cold shortening; 6-8 Tbs cold water; one large egg white; and 1 tsp sugar. For the filling you'll need 1 1-lb, 4-oz can crushed pineapple; 1 8-oz can crushed pineapple; 1/2 C sugar; 3 Tbsp cornstarch; 1/4 tsp salt; 4 Tbsp butter (cut into little chunks); 1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest; 3/4 tsp grated orange zest; and 1 Tbsp lemon juice.

Make your pie crust by combining the flour, salt, and shortening in a large bowl with a pastry blender. Using a fork, stir in the water a little bit at a time until the dough sticks together. Form it into two balls, one a little larger than the other (the bigger one is for the bottom crust), and put them in the refrigerator for about an hour.

While that's chilling, start making your filling. First off, get your lemon and orange zest. I really recommend using a microplane. It's one of those kitchen utensils that I don't really use that often, but I'm always glad I have it for the few times I need it. You can use a box grater, too, but the microplane is waaaaaay easier. You may as well go ahead and measure out your lemon juice at this time, too, and just set it aside. Now, put a strainer over a bowl and drain the crushed pineapple, saving as much juice as you can. Ideally you'll want 1 1/3 C of pineapple juice. Set the pineapple and the juice aside and in a large pan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Slowly whisk in the pineapple juice until it's smooth and bring it all to a boil over medium heat, until it's thickened and smooth.

It'll look rather like this.

Take it off the heat and stir in the pineapple, the butter, the lemon and orange zests, and lemon juice. Keep stirring until the butter is all melted.

You're going to want to let this cool, so, while that's happening, it's time to roll out the pie crust. At this time, you should turn on your oven to 400 degrees to preheat. Roll out the bigger dough ball, put it in a 9" pie plate, and brush with beaten egg white mixed with 1 tsp water.

Fill the pie shell with your tasty tasty pineapple filling, smoothing it out on top.

Now roll out the other dough ball and put it on top. Brush with more egg white, sprinkle with sugar, and cut ventilation slits in the top of the pie. Bake it for 35-40 minutes, or until the pie is nice and golden brown. I've only made a couple of pies before, so mine isn't exactly the prettiest in the world. Hopefully yours will look a little nicer.