Nectarine pie

Maybe its just me but I am finding this months alpha bakes a tricky one. I saw the letter  'N' and though 'oh that's fine'. But then I actually thought about it. And though some more. In the end I enlisted the help of M who thought and thought and eventually came up with nectarines.

I decided to try the nectarines in a pie. I was a little worried as I had not heard of nectarine pie, maybe there was a good reason for that!

Actually it was a very nice tasting pie, lovely buttery short pastry, plenty of vanilla and sweet juicy nectarines  The only issue was that the nectarines did not break down as an apple or pear does. I think if you were to try this I would roast the nectarines with a little vanilla first before adding them to the pie. I think this would encourage them to break down more so that the filling of the pie would be oozy and sticky.

Nectarine pie

makes 2 mini ones with pastry left over

100g plain flour
1/2 tbsp icing sugar
60g butter
1/2 an egg yolk
1 tbsp ice cold water
3 nectarines
vanilla paste or pod

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN. Mix together the flour and icing sugar. Add the butter in small cubes and then rub in with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the egg yolk and water, and use a round edged knife to bring the mix together. If it is a little dry add a a touch more of the egg yolk or ice cold water until you have a soft, not sticky dough. It is a good idea at this point to refrigerate the dough for a short while to make it easier to work with. I wrapped mine tightly in clingfilm and chilled for 30 minutes.

Roll out the pastry and line your pie dish. Fill with chopped and peeled nectarine chunks (pre roasted for a softer filling) and vanilla seeds or paste. 

Arrange strips of pastry in a lattice on the top and pinch to seal. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.

Serve warm with cream, clotted cream or ice cream

Another good thing about this pie was that there was not a soggy bottom in sight, Marry Berry would have been proud.

I am going to make some sort of Apple pie soon (ish), so will post pastry amounts and techniques for a large pie then.