[WATCH] Lemon meringue pie

Watch Pippa Mattei make a lemon meringue pie

Lemon meringue pie

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 500g short crust pastry

Lemon filling

• 2 lemons
• 4 egg yolks
• 100g corn flour
• 500ml water
• 50g butter
• 200g sugar

Meringue topping

• 4 egg whites
• 150g sugar

Method

1. Roll out prepared pastry to the required shape and size, carefully put into a baking flan dish pressing sides well in and trimming edges.
2. To keep the pastry from puffing up in oven, put some aluminium foil into the pastry case and crumple up to fit into all the corners. Alternatively, place a piece of greaseproof paper into pastry case and fill with dried beans (which you keep for this purpose).
3. Bake your pastry case for approx. 30 mins then remove the paper and cook for a further 5-10 mins until pastry is golden.
4. Remove from oven, allow to cool and set aside until needed.
5. To make the lemon filling, cut the lemons into 4 pieces each and place them in a processor together with the sugar, egg yolks, corn flour and water.
6. Switch to maximum speed and blend for 10-20 seconds ONLY.
7. Pour this through a mesh strainer into a medium sized pan, pressing well with a spoon to extract all the juice.
8. Add the butter and cook the mixture on medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens.
9. Continue cooking for another minute, then remove from the heat, and allow to cool.
10. When cool, fill the baked pastry case.
11. To make the meringue topping, place the egg whites in a bowl, and whisk on maximum speed until thick.
12. Sprinkle in one third of the sugar during the last stage of whisking and continue until the mixture is quite stiff.
13. Fold in the remaining sugar using a hand whisk.
14. Put the meringue on top of the lemon filling in the pastry case making sure it comes to the edge.
15. Twirl a few ‘peaks’ with a fork and then dust lightly with some extra sugar.
16. Place the pie in a moderately hot oven at 180°C for 5-10 mins until the meringue top is turning brown.

Get more of Pippa Mattei’s recipes in her books 25 Years In A Maltese Kitchen, Pippa’s Festa and Fil-Kcina ma’ Pippa.

This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today TV, aired on 19 June, 2015.