Lemon Meringue Pie

Cooking Instructions

To make pastry in food processor: Process flour and salt to mix. Add shortening and butter and process with on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. With motor running, add 2 tablespoons water and process just until dough leaves sides of bowl, adding more water as needed. Remove blade, then dough. By hand: Mix flour and salt in a medium-size bowl. Cut in shortening and butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle on water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing mixture with a fork until dough clumps together.

Gather dough into a ball, then press into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll out.

Heat oven to 425°F. Have a 9-inch pie plate ready.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin to a 13-inch circle. Fold in quarters, place into pie plate and unfold. Trim edge of pastry to 3/4 inch. Fold edge under to form a rim. Crimp or flute rim. Prick bottom and sides at 1-inch intervals with a fork.

Bake 22 to 27 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Heat oven to 350°F.

Filling: Whisk 11/4 cups sugar and the cornstarch in medium-size saucepan. Whisk in egg yolks and lemon juice until smooth. Stir in water with a wooden spoon and continue stirring over medium heat until mixture comes to a full boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add butter and lemon peel and stir until butter melts. Pour into baked pie shell.

Meringue: Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a medium-size bowl with electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form when beaters are lifted. Gradually beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition until sugar dissolves. Beat 2 minutes or until stiff peaks form when beaters are lifted.

Spoon meringue around edge of filling. Spread to edge of crust. Spoon remaining meringue in center and spread and swirl with back of teaspoon to cover filling evenly.

Bake 20 minutes or until meringue is browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted in center of meringue registers 160°F (see Note).

Cool completely on a wire rack, then refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours. To serve, cut with a long-bladed knife dipped in cold water.

NOTE Because of the small but real chance of salmonella contamination, it’s important to cook egg whites completely.

The pie shell in this recipe is baked completely before it is filled. To save time, you can buy refrigerated ready-to-use piecrust.