Have concord grapes, will make.....Pie??

The same week that my veggie man Shawn put the 2^nd bulb of fennel in my veggie box, he also gifted me with some concord type grapes.  We used to grow grapes at our old house years ago, and grape jelly was made in my kitchen for many years. (Then we moved, and our grapes were no more, alas, but I digress…)  Seeing the smallish amount I had, I knew the grape jelly was not going to happen, so I searched for an idea to make use of the grapes.  Never in a million years would I have thought my search would bring me to a Concord Grape Pie, but it did, and WOW, was it ever good!  Not just in your regular, run of the mill that-was-a good-piece-of-pie kind of good, but in a seriously lick-the-plate-clean kind of good and then look for more pie, but realize you shared the rest with your neighbours and your parents....   Hmmm, guess I need more grapes to make another pie!

 

Concord Grape Pie

Pastry to fit 10” pie plate (see pastry recipe under “in the beginning” post)

5 cups Concord grapes (ish)

3/4 cups white sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 pinch salt

1 tbsp lemon juice

Streusel Topping:

3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. granulate sugar
1/3 c. melted butter

DIRECTIONS :

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Fit pastry into 10” pie plate, flute edges and set aside.

Mix together streusel topping and set aside.

Wash grapes, and remove the skins. This part is a bit time consuming, but necessary and well worth it. Concord type grapes have slip-skins, if you aim the stem end into a bowl and squeeze, the grape pops out with ease.  If you get both hands working at the same time, it really speeds up the whole process. Save the skins in another bowl. Place grape pulp in a large saucepan. Cook over medium low heat until grapes come to a full boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook for 6-8 minutes.   Remove from heat, and press through a kitchen sieve into another bowl to remove seeds.  I used a spoon to help dislodge the seeds and “encourage” pulp to go thru the sieve. Discard seeds, and return pulp to the pot and add the skins.  Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

In a separate bowl, mix sugar, flour, and salt. Stir into grape mixture. Pour filling into pastry crust, and top with streusel topping. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes, or until topping starts to brown and juice begins to bubble.  (You may want to put a piece of foil under the pie in the oven, just in case it boils over, and makes a mess in your oven, like it did in mine!) Cool completely (in fridge) before cutting to help the filling set up.

Enjoy!