Ultimate Lemon Pie Recipe

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This variation on traditional lemon pie uses the entire lemon, rind and all, to produce an unusually intense lemon flavor.

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Ingredients

lemons
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter, divided
3 eggs
2 cups walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup whipping cream, optional

Container:9 inch pie dish

Directions

Cut lemons in half lengthwise, then put them cut-side down and slice as thinly as possible. Remove seeds. Put the lemon slices and any juice from them into a bowl or non-reactive pan. Mix in one cup sugar and allow to stand overnight, if possible, but for at least an hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the crust: pulse the nuts, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup butter in a food processor until the nuts are ground like coarse cornmeal. Press this mixture into a buttered 9 inch pie dish. Cover the bottom and sides as evenly as possible; thin areas may burn.
Bake in a pre-heated 375° oven for about 15 minutes, or until browned.
Cool before filling. (You may substitute a ready-made frozen pie crust, baked according to package instructions.)
Cook the lemon-sugar mix over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the rind is soft - 2 minutes or longer, depending on the size of the slices and the kind of lemon. Remove from the heat, stir in 1/4 cup butter and allow to cool somewhat.
Whisk the eggs in a small bowl until frothy and light yellow. Add 1/2 cup of the cooked lemon mix and stir in. Add another 1/2 cup of the lemon mix and stir in. (Adding the still-warm mix in small batches keeps the lemons' heat from partially cooking the eggs which would create hard lumps in the finished pie.)
Add the egg mix to the pan of lemon mix, stir well and cook, stirring constantly, over low heat until the eggs are cooked and the mixture is very thick.
Cool, then pour into baked crust. Garnish, if you wish, with whipped cream or a decorative twist of lemon.

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