Day: February 5, 2025

Shoo Fly Pie (Shoe Fly Pie at my house!)

This sweet pie is a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition. It is quick to go together, needs neither refrigeration, nor a long chilling down before consuming it, pleases most everyone and best of all it can be made in any season; no fruit needed.  It wasn’t too hard to change from my old recipe to a gluten free version.  I recommend it for celiacs who miss that old time flavor of shoe fly pie.  Note: some folk say shoo fly pie but my recipe used the spelling you see in this post.  I believe either is appropriate.

I know folks who shy away from gluten free baking thinking it is too complicated.  Well, a couple years ago I featured pies and this is the easiest pie around so I dedicate this to a few friends who have been too scared to bake gf.  You can do this one! If you want, buy a ready made uncooked crust but I swear that with a stand mixer this is the easiest and best gf crust around.

This shoe fly pie recipe is a blending of the filling I have used for years, (my sister Margie gave me the recipe a long time ago) and the pie crust and crumb recipes from Annalise Robert’s cookbook, Gluten-Free Baking Classics.  Her cookbook is a fabulous resource and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone trying to bake gluten free for a family member.

My shoe fly pie is considered a “wet bottom” pie; not too crumbish.  If you want it drier use ½ cup molasses and ½ cup water.  I love it soft and moist so my version always is a wet bottom shoe fly pie.

Angie’s Shoe Fly Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbps. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Spray 9 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of parchment or wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of parchment or wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes. Make the crumb topping while it chills.

Crumb topping

Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form.  You will only use 1 ½ cups of the crumbs; put it in a jar and store it in the fridge until your next pie; it keeps well for several weeks.

¾ c brown rice flour mix

½ c granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks

Next, roll out pie crust between the two sheets of parchment or wax paper; try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.  Then make filling and pour half into the crust, careful not to splash it out.

Filling:

2/3 cup molasses, I used Grandma’s

¾ cup boiling water

½ tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Mix the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl with a spoon until blended. It will foam up a bit as the baking soda mixes with the molasses! Gently pour half of the molasses mixture into the raw pie shell.

Then pour half the crumb topping (1 1/4 to 1½ cup total) evenly over this mixture.  Add the rest of the molasses liquid and sprinkle the rest of the crumbs on top.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes Cool at least ½-1 hour before serving or let cool to room temperature.

Note: I used to bake pies in my bottom heat pizza oven and it gaveme a great browned crust. No longer have that oven so I put the wire rack as close to the bottom as possible and it really helps the bottom of my pie to brown.  One other option: if your oven isn’t bottom heat you might want to pre-bake a gf crust 10 minutes before filling.

Brown Rice Flour Mix (King Arthur’s basic gf blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

** This blog post first appeared in March of 2016, revised slightly in 2023 to clarify the directions.  Enjoy!

Pork Meatballs with Puttanesca Sauce

I had a craving for puttanesca sauce with pasta, but I really wanted some protein in the mix. I combined some recipes, and I baked the meatballs in my oven which was much easier than pan frying them. I added lots of black olives and of course, I used gf breadcrumbs in my meatballs. No egg either so that’s a win in these pricy egg days… I made gf penne as I get tired of struggling with long pasta…that worked perfectly for this dish. It is easy to make with regular breadcrumbs and pasta if you don’t need to be gluten free.

Notes: Fresh tomatoes stink in winter so I used a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes; flavor winner! Next summer I will dice up a couple of cups of fresh ripe tomato for this entree, should make it even more yummy. I like small olives; the big ones are too large in a bite of this tasty dish. I put a tsp. of fennel seeds in my meatballs but if you hate fennel substitute in some Italian seasoning. If available, I would definitely top it with fresh basil leaves cut in a fine chiffonade. I sprinkled a bit of dried basil before serving it and topped my plate with a healthy portion of freshly grated parmesan cheese. It was delicious, easy and a keeper recipe!

Pork Meatballs with Puttanesca Sauce.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped a bit smaller than a regular chop

2 garlic cloves, I ran them through my garlic press

1/4-1/2 tsp. chili pepper flakes

3 anchovy fillets or 2-3 inches of anchovy paste

3-4 Tbsp. capers, drained

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 Tbsp. tomato paste (I heaped it rather full)

1 14.4 ounce can diced tomatoes and the juice in the can

25-30 black olives (at least half a can small olives)

Meatballs:

1 pound ground pork

1/3-1/2 cup gf bread crumbs

1/3 c milk

2 cloves of garlic, pressed in a garlic press

1 tsp fennel seeds toasted a bit and cooled

To serve: fresh basil leaves torn or chiffonaded or 1/4 inch dried basil and lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Directions: Start the sauce and then while it cooks make your meatballs. In a large saucepan heat olive oil and cook onion with a 1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt until getting soft. (You can start dumping all the meatball ingredients into a large bowl while the onions cook.) Add garlic, chili flakes, anchovies, capers oregano, tomato paste and cook 1-2 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and turn the heat to low; simmer for 20 minutes. Gently stir it a few times as it simmers. While it cooks make 4-6 oz. penne or other pasta shape. Be careful not to overcook. Add olives and meatballs to sauce when sauce is at 20 minutes, add pasta, Gently stir to combine. Top with fresh basil leaves or a quarter tsp dried basil and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Meatballs; Put a sheet of parchment paper in a sheet pan, heat oven to 400 degrees. First, put the bread crumbs and milk in a large bowl, let stand 3-5 minutes. Add pork and rest of ingredients. Mix well and form into 1- 1 1/4 inch meatballs. Set spaced out on baking sheet. Bake for 19-20 minutes; must reach 160 degrees, I like 165.