fresh strawberry nutella pie
It’s March…so two things! Spring is nearly here and on the 14th – it’s “Pi Day” or “ π Day”- however you want to write it…it’s a mathematical term, but foodies like to use it as an excuse to eat/make/create pie. So it was only fitting that with the Spring solstice arriving, our pie should be a fresh strawberry pie!! Now, having a layer of nutella on the bottom below the strawberries is completely optional! So if you don’t like nutella (you’d be in the minority my friend!) or you just don’t have any…skip it! Because strawberries are amazing all on their own, they don’t always need chocolate!
We tried making the glaze with gelatin or arrowroot starch (total fail) so we went with chia seeds. Those amazing little seeds that create a gel/thickening miracle whenever you use them! Seriously…they’ve got some amazing powers!
We’d hope that you use our wonderful pie crust recipe…we’ve included a link! We LOVE it and think it’s such a wonderful addition to our paleo life! Please enjoy!!
Ingredients:
1 recipe pie crust, (click here for our recipe) baked and cooled
Glaze:
1¼ c strawberries, washed, stemmed and cut up
¼ c raw honey
1 T pomegranate juice (adds color)
1-2 T chia seeds
Pie filling:
4 c strawberries, washed & stemmed
½-¾ c nutella, room temp – we use this recipe from TheSunkyCoconut (click here) – optional
¼ c roughly chopped hazelnuts – optional
Directions
- Make pie crust and allow to cool.
- Puree strawberries and honey in small food processor or you could easily use an immersion blender.
- Check for color…if you want a bit more of a red color, add the tablespoon of pom juice, if your strawberries are darker, you may not even need this step…your choice.
- Add 1 T of the chia seeds and whirl away, let the mixture set for about 20 minutes to see if you like the consistency. This is the glaze that will hold the strawberries together in the pie so it needs to be somewhat gelatinous. If you want more firmness, add more chia seeds, (add 1½ t which is half a T) whirl away and let it set again to check for consistency. If you want it even more firm, add another 1½t chia seeds and repeat. Place in refrigerator.
- Spread nutella along the bottom of cooled pie crust and sprinkle with hazelnuts. This step is completely optional…but seriously, nutella and strawberries!!!
- Slice up a few strawberries into slices so you can lay them flat on top of the nutella and nuts.
- The rest of the strawberries can be chopped or left nearly whole. It really just depends on what size the strawberries are that you get. The ones we had for the pie in the pics were really big. So we cut them up just a bit. Ideally, you could leave them whole…but it’s gonna have to be a judgement call. Some folks like all pieces bite size already, but we think it’s prettier to have big chunks.
- Take glaze out of the fridge and give it a good stir.
- Place cut up strawberries in a bowl and add about ¼c glaze and gentle stir to cover all strawberry pieces.
- Carefully pour/mound fruit into pie crust and spoon glaze on top of strawberries a heaping spoonful at a time, allowing time for it to settle around the fruit. It will slowly work it’s way into all the nooks and crannys. You may or not need all the glaze, it really just depends on how large your pieces are and how much glaze you want around the fruit. We like it just enough and not to have the pieces look like their swimming in the glaze…but again, personal preference!
- Sprinkle with some additional chopped hazelnuts if you like!
- Place in fridge and let it set up for a 3-4 hours.
- Slice and enjoy! You can always top with some whipped sweetened coconut cream or if you can tolerate some dairy, add a dollop of that!
**You can prep the crust ahead of time, but would suggest that once you fill the pies, you eat them the same day. These fresh fruit pies are prettiest and have a better texture if eaten within 4-6 hours of making them.
**You may have extra pie crust dough…we made little pies…be creative! If you have extra dough, DO NOT waste it…make something special!!
