O is quite happy to describe himself as a bit of a Luddite, so I hope I’m not betraying any confidences when I tell you so. It relates to the extent to which he is comfortable (or not) to embrace new technologies. Perhaps the best illustration of this is his endearing persistence in starting all emails to me with a formal, ‘Dear Kate …’ in avoidance of anything more casual. I even received text messages from him in this way until either our need to keep in more regular contact strained his texting thumb or he relaxed his perception of correct wife-husband correspondence.
Anyway – why am I telling you this? Only because I know that the title of this post will either have confused the hell out of him or he’ll be reaching for the psychiatrist’s phone number thinking he’s got a psychotic wife on the loose again. Relax – it’s only a doffing reference to txtspk or emoticons or whatever (you see, I really don’t know any more than O does) because a) we really do love gooseberry pie, and b) I really did make my little pie in a heart-shaped ramekin. And really, how many reallies can you fit into one paragraph without sounding insincere anyway?
So, having completely tied myself up in knots (or should that be ‘tied up myself in knots’?). Ug. Who cares? The pie was good.
Which pie?
Didn’t I tell you?
Oh, sorry. I got a bit side-tracked.
Here’s the story.
O picked our first crop of gooseberries.
I made gooseberry pie.
Which would have been a very short post.
Gooseberry Pie (makes one very small ramekin-sized pie for a first crop of gooseberries)
Your favourite shortcrust pastry
+
8 oz gooseberries, topped and tailed
4 oz caster sugar
juice and zest of 1 small lemon
2 tsp cornflour
1 oz butter
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Put the gooseberries, sugar, lemon juice and zest in a saucepan. Cook over low to moderate heat until the gooseberries are looking very relaxed and chilled out with life.
Strain the mixture then put the strained gooseberries into a bowl and mix with the cornflour until fully incorporated.
Return the sugary juice to the pan, add the butter and simmer until thickened to a jam-like consistency.
Line your ramekin with pastry.
Mix the gooseberries with enough jam to make a not-too-soggy filling, and scrape into the pastry-lined ramekin. (I had a little extra jam, so made gooseberry snails with the leftover scraps of pastry).
Top the pie with a layer of pastry and seal.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until the pastry is golden and flaky.
This recipe (for what it’s worth) is dedicated to Rose, to whom I sent a heart-shaped ramekin not so very long ago.
xx
amerrierworld.com 
Geraldine
/ June 30, 2012Lol, you’re funny. 🙂 And the pie looks so cute!
amerrierworld
/ July 1, 2012I love that little ramekin – it’s perfect for so many things (shh, don’t tell anyone – I bought 8 of them. I couldn’t resist it. I might need to make 8 gooseberry pies one day – you never know).
Lucy
/ June 30, 2012We’re enjoying the gooseberries from Abel and Cole as we’re not lucky enough to have free ones in the garden. I made a crumble last weekend with some and it was the best crumble I’ve ever made (even if I do say so myself)! Let’s hope I can re-create it when Mum and Dad come to stay on Monday! xxxx
amerrierworld
/ July 1, 2012Well … as long as you leave out everything they don’t like, you might get lucky and have found something they both enjoy eating 😉 … Wouldn’t hold your breath though! Send the rejects/leftovers back here to Devon! xxx
mydearbakes
/ July 1, 2012This is gorgeous! You are amazing, wish I can do something like that too! =)
amerrierworld
/ July 1, 2012Go for it 🙂
Dad
/ July 1, 2012Really thanks for the really good idea of a real home grown gooseberry ramekin pie, Kate.
Really looking forward to real spinach and real goat’s cheese finished off with real gooseberry pie in a day or two, Lucy.
Any reject/leftovers may not really make it back to Devon.
amerrierworld
/ July 2, 2012Really?
Jeannette
/ July 2, 2012I hope Rose really likes her ramekin too! Your gooseberry pie looks really good!
amerrierworld
/ July 2, 2012I think that sometimes, things seem to taste even better when there’s not very much of them … or at least, not enough to overpog on!
Rose Levy Beranbaum
/ July 11, 2012oh joy! i found gooseberries at the farmer’s market and after a second reading realized that the gooseberries are not pushed through the strainer–only the juices–which is why the filling looks so lusciously textured. i can’t wait to try it this weekend. thanks so much for dedicating such a special and adorable little pie in my favorite shape no less to me.
xox
amerrierworld
/ July 11, 2012Fingers crossed you like it … don’t waste all those precious gooseberries! xox