Retro Jello Strawberry Pie

I am a huge pretzel fan but I have to say that I have usually limited my intake to large soft pretzels while strolling through NYC streets or long crunchy rods that I like to dip in Hummus. Using pretzels as part of a dish is fairly new to me, although I did put them to good use in a Pretzel Crusted Chocolate Stout Pie with Jameson’s Cream. Here they are used in a crust to encase a sweet, pretty pink strawberry filling. Easy. Retro and fun. This recipe is from Pretzel Making at Home by Andrea Slonecker, which really opened my eyes to the world of homemade pretzel and pretzel containing dishes, including her Pennsylvania Dutch Hard Pretzels.
Excerpted from Pretzel Making at Home by Andrea Slonecker, Chronicle Books.
Text copyright 2013. Photographs copyright 2013 by Alex Farnum.
When I was growing up in Nebraska in the 1980s, my mom was the queen of what are now considered retro foods from that era. I have fond memories of her pretzel-crusted strawberry Jell-O and cream cheese “salad.” Of course, now that I’m a food snob—or food elitist, as my dad would say—I have to give it a slightly more sophisticated rendering. A springform pan is pinch-hitting for the glass Pyrex dish, transforming the salad into a tart. The sides of the pan are removed to reveal the pretty layers. It can be made in a 9-in/23-cm deep-dish pie pan instead, but then I guess it becomes just that, a pie. Salad, tart, pie—whatever you want to call it, this throwback is worth revisiting.

 

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
3 oz box strawberry Jell-O
2 cups sliced strawberries
Pre-bake a 10″ pie shell
Instructions :
Line bottom of pie shell with the sliced strawberries. Combine cornstarch, sugar and water in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add the Jell-O and stir until dissolved. Pour over the strawberries and refrigerate until set. Serve with whipped cream