While the first day of Spring is almost a month away, I am starting Spring now! Strawberry Pistachio Cream Pie is a slice of Spring!
My local Aldi’s has had for February, the best strawberries. Walking by them, they give off that Spring aroma. I have been buying them for the last few weeks, and they have all been fantastic.
Now Tim and I have been revamping our eating, and for the most part, we have been doing really well. But, every once in a while, we have needed to have a treat.
Strawberry Pistachio Cream Pie was a perfect treat. It was so good we ate the whole pie in just a few days. We tried to give some to our neighbor, but he didn’t answer the door…..sorry David.
When trying to decide what to do with my beautiful strawberries, I was looking through the frig, the freezer, and the pantry. Freezer first, pie crust. Pantry, we always have pistachios. Frig, cream cheese, and strawberries.
Blind baking is the start of any good cream pie. Place your pie crust dough in your favorite pie dish. Place a piece of parchment paper over the pie dough, making sure it is big enough to come up the sides of the dough. Place rice on top of the parchment and fill with rice, dried beans, or metal or ceramic baking weights. (This stops the pie dough from shrinking down the sides during cooking.) Place on a baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment and rice. Return the crust to the oven for about 2-3 minutes more to brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
You cannot use rice or dried beans for eating after using for baking. You may use them over and over for blind baking, be sure to label and store them, so they are not consumed.
The filling for this pie is a cream cheese base mixed with whipped cream, that’s it no fancy cooking involved. Cream cheese is creamed with sugar and vanilla paste and then blended with heavy cream whipped to stiff peaks, Stir in the strawberries and pistachios, and place into the cooled baked pie crust.
You can garnish with the berries as you wish. I cut mine in half, but you can slice them, chop them, so be creative. I also used a few chopped pistachios.
Place the pie in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. When ready, slice, and serve.
If you are lucky enough to find beautiful fresh strawberries (check out your local Aldi’s), make your self, family, or friends a Strawberry Pistachio Cream Pie and enjoy an early taste of Spring!
Print
Strawberry Pistachio Cream Pie
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes + 4 hours hold time
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
1 (9″) frozen store-bought pie crust
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 8-ounce block cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 lb strawberries, 1 1/2 cup chopped use remaining for garnish
1/3 cup chopped pistachios, plus a few for garnish
Instructions
Bake pie crust according to the package instructions. Let cool completely.
In a small bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. About 3-4 minutes.
In a separate bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat with a hand mixer until combined and smooth.
Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until combined Evenly spread into the bottom of the pie crust.
Fold in 1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries and 1/3 cup pistachio.
Top with the chopped or halved strawberries and chopped pistachios for garnish.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Slice and serve.
