Pineapple-Coconut Pie

It was one of those weekends where a lot of things went wrong.  I was hosting a Mother’s Day luncheon, I’d run out of time, and nearly everything that I reached for to prepare the meal, I didn’t seem to have.  When my mother announced that she had a hankering for pie (Her words were, “such a taste for...” but me?  I hanker.), I knew I had to make one.  But short on cream, low on fruit, devoid of bananas, lacking pecans, the cupboard was largely bare, with the exception of a couple of oddball items.  Fortunately while paging through the Post-Dispatch Cookbook of specially requested recipes from area restaurants my eyes fell upon this one.  Quick and easy to make, the ingredients on hand, I knew I had a winner.

As it turned out, I did; everyone loved it.  The name, I think, is a bit of a misnomer.  It does contain pineapple, but none of the diners could taste its presence in the pie, all simply agreed that it was very good.

Pineapple-Coconut Pie

Elsah Landing Restaurant, Grafton, IL

Yield: 8 servings

For crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening

2 to 3-1/3 tablespoons ice water

For Filling:

3 eggs, beaten

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

To prepare crust: To measure flour, spoon lightly into a 1-cup dry measure.  Level off.  Sift flour and salt together into a large bowl.  Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or two table knives until mixture forms particles slightly larger than grains of rice.  Sprinkle with ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.  Toss gently with a fork until all particles are uniformly moistened and will barely stick together.

Shape mixture into a ball.  Roll out on a lightly floured pastry cloth to form a circle.  Ease into a 9-inch pie plate; flute the edges. (NOTE: Who has the time?  I used a Redi-Crust.)

To prepare filling: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, salt, melted butter, pineapple, and coconut.  Mix well.  Pour into pie shell.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 300 degrees; bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until center seems set and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Top with a dollop of whipped cream and sprinklings of toasted coconut, if desired.  Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

This post is linked to:

On the Menu Monday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

What's Cooking Wednesday

Foodie Friday

Foodie Friday at Simple Living

Sweets for a Saturday

Sunday's Best Party

For more delicious pie recipes, this is one of my favorite resources: