Happy Pi Day (3.14). Yes it looks like a tart, but it’s a pie.
Anyway, today is one of those weird days where the mathematical world and the food world intersect…or do they? Somehow I don’t see mathematician’s celebrating Pi like the food bloggers celebrate pie…or maybe they do. Well who cares anyway. It was still a good reason to make a pie.
All I can say is this Tangy Lemon-Limoncello Pie is one of the easiest, most lemony tasting pies around. It’s fresh, tart and sets up easily in the oven. It’s perfection. Oh and it has limoncello (lee-mon-CHEH-loh), an aromatic lemon liqueur made from lemon rinds, making it less tart than lemonade. Have you ever sipped an icy cold limoncello? I love it…you need to try.
This pie would also be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G with a meringue topping…however, I do not do meringue in rain, snow or humidity; with all the sugar, meringue absorbs moisture from the air and makes a gloppy mess.
So here’s a shot of today’s weather from the backside of our property…this was early morning before the REAL blizzard started. It SNOWED. ALL. DAY. LONG. Is it not almost Spring? And therefore, my pie shall remain meringue-less. Snow = no meringue. But if the weather is perfect in your area, give it a whirl…my Mommy’s meringue recipe is here. Or whipped cream does the job nicely.
What I love about this pie is how balanced the sweet to tart ratio tastes…and again, it’s so, so easy to make. You do not even have to make custard. Just mix and fill in your pie shell.
This would be beautiful on an Easter table….mmmhhhmmmm. Going to get another piece…
Just take a bite….
Tangy Lemon-Limoncello Pie
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cubed
- 3 Tablespoons butter flavored vegetable shortening, cubed
- 4-6 Tablespoons ice water
For the filling:
- 4 large eggs
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice, strained
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 Tablespoons limoncello (sub lemon extract for a nonalcoholic version)
- 1/8 teaspoon table salt
- whipped cream and lime zest for garnish (optional)
Directions
- For the crust add the flour, sugar, salt, butter and shortening to a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix the ingredients together. Add ice water through the feed tube, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together as you are pulsing. The dough should not be dry or sticky and you may only need a few Tablespoons of water to get there. Wrap the dough in plastic, flattening to a disk, chilling 30 minutes to an hour before rolling it out. Do not skip this part and read about why we chill pie dough here.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F with the rack in the lower third of the oven. Coat your 9" pie plate with cooking spray. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8" thick. Transfer dough to pie plate, trim, leaving 1" of dough to edge under and crimp. Freeze pie shell until firm (about 20 minutes), and line dough with foil, filling with beans or rice. Place pie plate on a baking sheet and bake until the crust is set, about 20-25 minutes. Remove foil and weights and return crust to oven, baking until golden, about 10 minutes longer.
- Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
- For the filling, whisk together eggs, yolks and sugar. Stir in lemon juice, cream, limoncello and salt. Pour into prebaked crust. Keep pie on a baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake until filling is just set, 25-30 minutes. Make sure to watch, if you overbake, the filling will be less creamy. Allow pie to cool completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least six hours or overnight.
- Notes: ~If you push your dough into a tart pan as I did, please note you will have about 1 cup of extra filling leftover. The tart pan is not as deep as a pie shell. I baked that filling in little ramekins after my pie came out of the oven for a "crustless dessert".
Katrina says
Oh my! This sounds lovely. Lemon tarts and pies make me a happy girl!
Banana Wonder says
Excellent! I’ve got plenty of limoncello to use up and this is what will happen with some of it.
Barbie with a T says
I learned that I was allergic to chocolate at a very young age, so I had to choose another favorite flavor, so lemon was it!! I just love Limoncello. I am pie crust challenged, so I think I will just have to break down and make this dessert with a ready made pie crust. Because now you have me craving a really lemony dessert.
Karen says
Hi Barbie with a T, an easy pie crust for sweet pastry use a food processor
2 cups plain flour
250g butter
1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
Blitz until it just starts to form a sort dough don’t over process or you’ll have tough pastry..
Turn onto lightly floured board and gently bring together until smooth least amount of handling possible wrap in plastic wrap pop in fridge for 15 mins
Roll out to desired size into flan/tart tin or cut out into individual tarts use to line your tart tins blind bake or fill and bake dependent on what filling your using
For savoury I omit the sugar add herbs/cheese Again dependent on what filling your using hope that helps
Linda says
Wow! What a beautiful site! Your neighborhood and your pie! I am always happy to read a new post on Noble Pig!
Cat Davis says
Oh wow, I just pinned this to remind me to make later this weekend. It looks so refreshing.
Karen says
Thank you for sharing this I love lemon pies of all kinds and using Limoncello in this sound so delicious I make a self saucing lemon pudding and serve with a shot glass of Limoncello I also make my own Limoncello it’s so easy an Italian friend gave me her families recipe but I mustn’t tell her Nonnative (grandmother)
Marco says
Does it has to be be the non-alcoholic limoncello?
Cathy says
I’ve never heard of non-alcoholic limoncello?
Penny says
Can this be made ahead and frozen?
Cathy says
I have never frozen it so I’m not sure.