I was sitting around and trying to come up with something to make for my own blogging event, the Triple Play event. It had to involve the three ingredients of rosewater, pistachios and cardamom. I didn't want to make something obvious, because where's the fun in that? We were having some friends over for dinner and I had to make a dessert anyway. One of my husband's favorite desserts in the whole wide world is pecan pie. That's when it hit me: I was going to make a pistachio pie. Now, this had two potential issues. First, I've always had trouble with pie. It's the crust. I'm not very good at it. Second, I had never even seen a pistachio pie before. I'd seen - and made - pecan pie. I decided that this would be my starting point. All the pecan pie recipes I've seen have called for corn syrup. Not only did I not have any corn syrup, I'm kind of uncomfortable with it. I'm not exactly a zealot for eliminating corn from the American diet, but really, almost everything contains corn syrup and it doesn't even add much flavor! Honey, now - that's a tasty, tasty treat. It's a little healthier than corn syrup, or at least I believe it to be healthier and that's what counts, and I actually had it on hand.
I made the pie, and it came out okay. Since I've always had trouble with crusts, I decided that I was going to try a technique I'd seen before on Good Eats. I 
put the dough in a plastic zip-top bag - the same one I'd stored the dough in after making it the night before. I left the end unzipped, and then I took my rolling pin and I rolled it out - inside the bag. Then I took scissors and cut down the sides of the bag. I put the dough in the pie pan, then peeled off the plastic. This worked like a charm! I think that the dough might have baked a little longer than it ought, though, because it became very flaky indeed and crumbled into dust at the slightest contact. The texture of the filling was exactly like that of pecan pie. The rosewater wasn't overpowering - in fact, I barely noticed it at all, which was a little disappointing to me since it's one of my favorite flavors. The cardamom came through nicely toward the end of the bite, but wasn't excessive. The dominant flavors were the pistachios and the honey, which was mellowed a bit by the cooking.
Pistachio Pie (serves 8; approx. $1.37/person)
1 recipe Fearless Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
3 eggs
1 cup light-colored honey (I used orange blossom honey. The lighter color yields a milder flavor; I think buckwheat, for example, would be overpowering in this dish.)
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1 stick (8 oz) butter, melted
1 1/2 cups shelled, unsalted pistachios
1 tablespoon rosewater
1 tablespoon cardamom
Equipment:
- Pie plate (9")
- Baking sheet
- Mixing bowl
- Pie weights (I used dried black beans)
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Poke a few holes in the bottom of your pie crust and bake for about 10 minutes, weighted.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, honey, sugar, butter, 1/2 cup of the pistachios, rosewater and cardamom.
- Pour the mixture into the pie crust and smooth out the top.
- Spread the remaining 1 cup of pistachios over the top of the filling.
- Reduce the heat of the oven to 375 and bake approximately 55 minutes. Important Note: every oven is different. After about 45 minutes, check the pie. It is done if the filling is puffy and appears to be mostly set. The filling will deflate as it cools.
- Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature. Keep the pie away from the dog.
Yep, my mind went immediately to a pecan pie too! This style of pie is one of my faves and who doesn't like pistachios?
Posted by: Peter | May 13, 2008 at 11:47 AM
I'm sure that there must be someone who doesn't like pistachios out there, but I don't know them. Thanks, Peter!
Posted by: Fearless Kitchen | May 14, 2008 at 12:24 PM
We love pistachios here, and this pie looks fabulous! Another one saved in the folder!
Posted by: Nicisme | May 14, 2008 at 12:49 PM
hi thr!!
this pie looks awesome!!!so delicious..pistas are my fav!!!
Posted by: ranji | May 15, 2008 at 04:16 PM