Apricot Pie with Pistachio Crust

I was trying to think of a kind of pie I hadn't tried before (you know besides mango, butterscotch, pecan, chamomile, blueberry crumble, and chess). I'd never made an apricot pie before, and given that it is currently the 2.4 seconds that apricots are in season, it sounded pretty good. I love apricots, but it's terribly hard to find a good one around here, they're often too tart or mealy.



I also decided to stick with the classic pairing of apricots and pistachios by making a pistachios crust. A word of advice dear friends: if you ever see a package of blanched pistachios in the store, just buy them. I don't care where you are, heck you may even want to go ahead and order them now. Because one day, along will come an occasion when you need blanched pistachios- say to scatter over a pilaf, or to make a vibrant green tart dough (non-blanched pistachios make the dough brown), and you will be cursing yourself not only shelling the pistachios, but dunking them in boiling water and then plying off their little papery skins. Save yourself this trouble before you could ever encounter it.

But in the end the tart dough was lovely, the apricot bright and punchy, and the whole thing with a big scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream on top was messy and delicious. The fruit was a bit tarter than I would have liked, so if your fruit is on the tart side I'd recommend using the full cup of sugar.


Apricot Pie with Pistachio Crust
I didn't bother peeling the apricots, but the texture is probably better if you do. If you have proper ripe apricots the peels should just pull right off with your fingers.

5 cups apricots
3/4 - 1 cup sugar, depending on tartness of apricots
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla

12 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup ground pistachios, made from 1 1/2 cups blanched pistachios
2 tablespoons sugar
3-4 tablespoons ice water

1. Make the dough: Place the whole blanched pistachios in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Do not grind them to a paste. Add the flour, pieces of butter, and sugar, and pulse in the food processor until the mixture is crumbly. Add the cold water with the processor running, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together. Gather up dough, pat into 2 disks and refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Roll out the two dough disks on a lightly floured surface. Fit one disk into the pie pan, reserve the second dough disk, wrap them in plastic and place them in the fridge to chill.

3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Meanwhile, pull apart the apricots, discard the pits, and slice the fruit. Combine in a bowl with the sugar, vanilla, and cardamom, and let macerate for about 15-20 minutes.

4. Scrape the fruit into the prepared pie dough, leaving behind any juices that accumulate. Cut out shapes or latticework out of the remaining pie dough and arrange over top. Sprinkle top with a bit of sugar if desired.

5. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until crust is lightly browned and filling is soft and bubbly. Let cool slightly before serving.