Nutty Whole Grain Strawberry-Blueberry Streusel Pie

Makes one 10-12-inch pie

There were several motivations in the creation of this treat (the various parts of which are adapted with great liberty from Mark Bittman’s recipes in How to Cook Everything): the first was a huge amount of strawberries that we weren’t managing to eat fast enough; the second was a beautiful, warm bowl of freshly ground chickpea flour that I was anxious to try out in a baked good; and the third was my exquisite but heretofore unused handmade tart pan that I bought in the most adorable village of Kaysersberg in Alsace, France over winter break. Them’s pie-makin’ circumstances.

Crust:

10 Tbs cold butter, cut into chunks

2/3 C whole wheat flour

1/3 C barley flour

1/4 C brown rice flour

1/4 C chick pea flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs sugar

4 Tbs ice water

 

Filling:

7-8 C blueberries and sliced strawberries

1/4-3/4 C sugar (depending on how naturally sweet your berries are)

3 Tbs cornstarch

 

Streusel topping:

8 Tbs butter

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C walnuts

1/4 C whole wheat flour

1/4 C oats

2 Tbs wheat germ

1 Tbs ground flax meal

Make crust: put all ingredients except water in the food processor and process until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water little by little until the dough comes together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.

Make the filling: macerate the berries in the sugar for an hour. Drain out the juice and whisk in the cornstarch. Return juice to berries.

Make the streusel topping: combine all ingredients in the food processor and process until nuts are chopped and ingredients are combined into a homogenous crumb mixture.

Assemble! Roll out the pie crust and fit it into your 10-12 inch pie pan. If you’re crafty, you can do fancy things to the edges, crimping or rolling or whatever great pie makers do. I have a bit of a challenge my with totally gorgeous and authentic Alsatian tart pan—it can’t handle “les chocs thermiques,” so I have to preheat it in the oven and then try to unroll the crust into the hot pan. It’s not a huge pain, but it does mean that I’ll never have beautiful edges; it’s just too hot to handle and the crust starts to fall apart as it warms. Anyway: next pour in the filling and top with the streusel mix. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, or until the topping is crisp and the filling is thick.

Did this just spring forth from a French country house, or what??