Yields: One 9” pie (or 13″ x 9″)
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs of fresh cherries, pitted and chopped
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 Tablespoons water, plus 1 Tablespoon
- 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons of Disaronno (or your favorite Amaretto)
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 cup uncooked regular rolled oats
- 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 Stella D’Oro ’S’ Cookies, crumbled**
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large sauce pan over medium high heat, add the chopped cherries, lemon juice, sugar, 3 tablespoons of water, and salt, and bring to a simmer. Stirring often, cook until the cherries have softened and reduced, and released their natural juices, about 12-15 minutes. Half way through the 15 minutes, lower the heat. Do not fear if the mixture looks too watery, it’s supposed to!
In the meantime, in a small bowl, mix the corn starch and remaining water, until the corn starch dissolves and becomes a liquid (this is known as a “slurry”, a thickening agent used to thicken sauces, jams, stews, etc.). It takes a few minutes for the water to incorporate, at first it’ll look like a thick paste, but keep stirring! Once your cherries are looking nice and have that ‘pie filling-like’ (technical term) consistency, add the slurry. Stir and let it cook another few minutes, and turn off the heat. Once the mixture is off the heat, add in the Disaronno. The longer the mixture is off the heat, the thicker it’ll get.
Note: This filling can be made the day before. You can stop here, cool, and put in the fridge until ready to use.
While the filling is cooling, mix together the oats, flour and brown sugar. Add the cold butter pieces, incorporating with your hands or a fork. You want the butter to break up, but still remain in pieces. Once it’s all incorporated, add in your crumbled ’S’ cookies. (If you do so before you add the butter, all the motions may break up your cookies into fine crumbs. And although the flavor is still there, it’s much better to bite in to a nice crunch of cookie.). You can also make this ahead of time, and keep in the fridge so the butter stays cold.
When your crumble topping is ready, spoon your cherry filling into either a 9” glass pie plate, or a 13” x 9” rectangular pan. Spread the topping generously over cherries. Bake in the oven until the top is nicely browned and crisp, and the filling is sizzling through the sides, about 30-35 minutes.
Wait at least five minutes for the crumble to cool before cutting (if you have the will power), so it sets a little. I topped mine with Trader Joe’s Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, but you could also dollop some whipped cream (or both)….ENJOY!
**You can find the Stella D’Oro S cookies in any Italian specialty food store (or possibly your regular super market). If you can’t find them, you can substitute an almond cookie or biscotti.
