Elegant and Affordable: Balsamic Strawberry Pie

It is the start of strawberry season which is always a very exciting time!  Fresh berries — there are so many options!  And to celebrate, why not make a strawberry pie?!!  For this pie though I did not want to have the typical thick, jelly-like filling that you usually find.  By instead creating a balsamic syrup, I was able to give the berries a more unique flavor that played more on the freshness of the strawberries rather than the gooey filling.

If you leave the whipped cream off, you have a vegan pie!

Balsamic Strawberry Pie

• Your favorite vegan pie crust recipe
• 1 1/2 quarts of fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 Tbs arrowroot
• 1/4 water
• 1/4 balsamic vinegar
• Homemade Whipped Cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Roll out pie crust to fit your pie pan.  Fit crust to pie pan and flute the edges.  Prick bottom and sides of crust with a fork.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack.

Hull and quarter strawberries and place in a bowl.

In a medium saucepan, mix sugar and arrowroot and put on low heat.  Gradually stir in the water and balsamic vinegar.  Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Pour balsamic sauce over the strawberries and combine until well-coated.

Add strawberry mixture to the pie crust.  Refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.

If desired, add homemade whipped cream prior to serving.