Recipe | Banana Meringue Pie

banana_cream_meringue_pie

Easy to make, and it’s got bananas – Win Win!

First, make a pie crust. You can use this recipe, but just make half. Dock the crust and bake it for about 10 minutes at 450 degrees until lightly browned. Keep an eye on it. Some folks like to use baking balls or beans, but I’ve never needed to. Set it aside to cool.

For the filling:

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk (lowfat is not recommended)
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten (save the whites!)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 medium bananas, sliced

In 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch and salt, then stir in the milk. Bring it to a simmer and stir it constantly for 2-3 minutes. Carefully stir about 1/4 cup of the mixture into the eggs to temper, then you can add that back to the mix. Simmer some more, until it starts to thicken, take it off the heat, stir in the butter and vanilla, then set it aside for 15-20 minutes.

In your mixer toss in two of the egg whites and start beating them on medium high. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar. Beat until you get stiff peaks.

Lay some of the bananas in the bottom of the crust, pour in some of the mix, add bananas and more mix, creating layers of bananas/custard. Top it off with the meringue. Put it in the oven and watch it well; it should brown nicely within 10 minutes. Set it aside to cool for at least 3 hours. That’ll give ya time to make a nice dinner. Or not, just eat the pie.