A lot of watermelon recipes (including this one) note how great the dish would taste “in the hot days of summer.” That may be so, but do you know what else is true? Recipes like this would be great to make all year round! Seriously, I don’t care if I’m snowed in and it’s 10 below zero outside, a slice of watermelon pie would be awesome!
The recipe below is adapted from a different recipe. The original got all fancy by making the pie crust and whipped cream from scratch. You can do that if you like, or you can buy those key ingredients ready-made. It’s up to you.
WATERMELON PIE
INGREDIENTS
1 premade pie crust (take your pick of types)
6 cups seedless watermelon cubes (from about a 4-pound slice), to make about 4 cups puree
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon lime juice
Whipped cream
DIRECTIONS
Puree the watermelon chunks in a blender, then pour through a wire sieve into a large saucepan. Press on the solids in the sieve to extract the juice, then discard the solids and thoroughly rinse the sieve. You should have around 4 cups of puree. Measure out 1/4 cup of the watermelon juice in a small measuring cup and set aside.
Add the sugar to the watermelon juice in the pan, stir, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. While the juice is coming to a boil, add the cornstarch to the reserved juice and whisk until the mixture is completely smooth.
When the juice is boiling, whisk the cornstarch mixture again, then whisk it into the boiling juice. Boil for 4 minutes, whisking constantly and scraping the sides and bottom of the pot. The mixture will begin to thicken. Pour the mixture through the cleaned sieve into a bowl to remove any lumps that might form. Allow the filling to cool for about 20 minutes.
Scrape the slightly cooled mixture into the prepared crust, smoothing it out to fill the crust and present a nice, flat surface. (You should leave a quarter to half an inch of space between the top of the pie filling and the top of the crust in preparation for the last step – adding whipped cream.) Chill the crust in the fridge for an hour until it’s slightly firm, then cover it with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight until completely firm.
Scoop the whipped cream onto the chilled pie filling and spread it to the edges of the crust, covering all of the filling. Chill in the fridge for an hour before serving.