spiced plum walnut pie

I made dinner last Friday for the first time in over a week, and by dinner I mean pie. I should be blaming myself as I only seem to push out dinner once maybe twice a week tops (making frequent excuses of: I’m not hungry, There is nothing in the house, I’m too tired – all being acceptable to my husband and therefore my lack of motivation to change this routine). But I blame Bon Appetit. They send me magazines and daily email newsletters and facebook updates and I am constantly inundated with recipes I am motivated to make today, right now, in the morning when I wake up before the sun err, at night when all the stores are closed and I’m half focused on Jimmy Kimmel.

And then like all bad mothers, I blame my kid:

Monday: I’m tired.
Tuesday: It hurts to move around when there are two feet stuck between my lung and my heart.
Wednesday: I need to do some online shopping for strollers and bedding and peel off the 300 feet of painters tape I, err, we, spent 12 hours putting up.
Thursday: Honey, can you make me some pot roast? With potatoes and carrots? Because you love me and want to feed your unborn child?

Every night resulting with the same awesome reply: Do you want me to get something for you? With my (so-called) annoying reply: But I don’t know what I want.

The typical run down of take out is usually made and  eventually I figure out something that sounds good, like really good, like my baby needs that or it will not live a good, normal, food-fulfilled life good. Friday, however, was different. I had energy. I had plums. I had Bon Appetit, and I desired flaky pastry crust. And so we had pie for dinner. And like the awesome parents we plan on being, we justified it by saying: fruit is healthy.

One Year Ago: Stuffed Baby Eggplant, Plum Galette, and Barley Risotto with Mushrooms and Leeks

Spiced Plum Walnut Pie
From High 5 Pie

Crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, ice cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup ice cold water

1 egg, lightly beaten
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

Filling:
12 small black plums, about 2 1/2 pounds
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 scant teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup chopped raw walnuts

Crust: In large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Add in cubes of butter and mix gently with pastry cutter, fork, or hands. Incorporate butter with dry ingredients, but mix lightly. (Butter pieces should be well-coated in dry mixture and somewhat flattened out.)

Gradually add in cold water, one tablespoon at a time. Continue mixing until dough comes together and forms pea-sized crumbs. Gather crumbs together with your hands and form dough into two “patties,” being careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap each patty separately in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.

Filling: Cut plums into one-inch chunks, removing pits. In large bowl, toss plums with lemon juice.

In medium bowl, combine sugars, flour, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add spice mixture and chopped walnuts to plums and mix well.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. When ready to use, remove dough from refrigerator and let sit at room temp for 5-10 min or so to soften it.

Roll out 1 dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch pie dish lightly sprayed nonstick cooking spray. Fill with plum mixture. Roll out remaining dough disk to 13-inch round and drape over pie. Fold top and bottom overhangs together to seal. Crimp edge of crust decoratively. Brush lightly with egg wash (1 beaten egg), avoiding the crust edge. Cut several small slits in top crust. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake on middle rack of oven for 35-40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Cool pie 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.