From the Bookshelf to the Kitchen: Serious Moonlight and Pie #1

I love pie. Like, really love it. I wish my area had more pie shops. The one we have is super good, but I miss the ones I could regularly go to in New York. Anyways. When I heard about Jenn Bennett's latest, Serious Moonlight, and how it incorporated pie, I was 100% on board. And I knew it would inspire many a From the Bookshelf to the Kitchen post. So here we are with the first one, which is probably the easiest pie of the bunch.

"[He] glanced at the Pie of the Day board: STRAWBERRY'S BABY, featuring glazed bloodred strawberries scented with rosemary and piled into a devilishly dark chocolate-cookie crust." ~ pg. 422 of Serious Moonlight (Words in brackets mine.)

Goodreads  Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

This kind of ended up being a blend of the pie recipe I shared a few months ago, plus my imagination. But it turned out really well. The main suggestion I have is either that y'all make sure to use in-season strawberries (so they're flavorful and sweet) or add extra sugar (and then extra cornstarch to compensate for the extra juice).

Also I forgot to take pictures at all the various stages, so I suck.

Strawberry's Baby Pie

1.5 lbs strawberries, sliced

2.5 T. sugar

2 T. cornstarch

1 T. lemon juice

6 basil leaves, chopped

1/2 t. dried rosemary (or less)

1 chocolate cookie crust (can be store-bought)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Once your strawberries and basil are prepped, let strawberries macerate in sugar for about 10 minutes. Add cornstarch, lemon juice, basil and rosemary and stir until combined.

3. Spread filling into pie crust, making sure it's level. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until filling is fairly set. 

4. Let cool on counter for about 40 minutes, then put in refrigerator and serve chilled, with a dollop of whipped cream if desired. Should make about 6-8 servings (depending on size of slices).

**Using a store-bought crust: Ours said it could be baked at 375 for 5 minutes, but we found it stayed soft throughout the entire baking process and hadn't burned by the time we took the pie out, which had been my big worry.**

Have a book or recipe suggestion? Leave it in the comments below, and hopefully I'll get around to making it soon.