Did you knwow that almost 87% of all peaches grown in Ontario are produced in the Geenbelt?
Did you also know that in 2015, Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation and Ontario Tender Fruit Growers launched a new pilot project to plant up to 130,000 tender fruit tree varieties, including peaches? Want to learn more click here.
As a fan of peaches, I think that’s really great news. This means that thanks to Ontario’s protected Greenbelt, we will get to enjoy peaches for generations to come.
Peaches are my mom’s favourite fruit, she loves to eat peach jam, peach pie, peach syrup, peaches and yogurt, the list can go on. I on the other hand, only eat peach pie - it’s my favourite pie of all time. I think that there’s nothing more delicious than eating a deliciously sweet peach with buttery pastry.
All of the pies that I have ever learned from my grandmothers are very simple, it’s just a pie crust plus fruit and sugar, sometimes cinnamon depending on the fruit. This peach pie recipe is really great because I always cook more peaches than are required for one pie, and then I have leftover peaches and delicious syrup that I can add to ice cream, yogurt, waffles or pancakes.
This recipe does not use any form of strach to thicken to pie filling, because of that the peaches need to be cooked before they are added to the pie shell.
Peach Pie
Serves 8, takes 1 hour
2 pie shells, 9 inch
6 peaches - or more
3 tablespoons sugar - about ½ tablespoon per peach
Heat oven to 350 degrees, once the oven has reached the correct temprature add one of the pie shells. Bake the pie shell until the shell has turned the colour of caramel, about 25 minutes.
Begin by removing the peach’s outer layer (its very simple). Bring a pot of water to a boil, and add the peaches for one or two minutes. Remove the peaches from the boiling water, and let me cool down. Once they are cool to the touch, you can remove the outer layer of the peaches very easily.
Cut each peach into quarters, and add them to a pan. Sprinkle the sugar on top, and stir. If the peaches are very dry add one tablespoon of water. Turn on the heat to medium and simmer this mixture for 10 to 15 minutes. You will notice that a fair amount of juice separates from the peaches. My mom perfers to cook the peaches until all the liquid has evaprated, but I prefer to strain the peaches and reserve the peach syrup.
Add the strained peaches to the baked pie shell and place the second pie shell on top of the pie. Make sure to gently press on the top pie shell to attach to the bottom pie shell, this ensures that the peach syrup that will continue to be released from the peaches will stay in the pie and not all over your oven! Place pie in oven, and bake for 20 minutes, or until the top pie shell has turned the colour of caramel.
– Andreea Nicoara
