Avocado-Lime Pie with Coconut Cream and Pistachio Crust

Some of the Boston people who post on the Post Punk Kitchen Forums are getting together for an avocado themed potluck in early February. I decided to try using avocado in a new way (for me): avocado pie.

There are a surprising number of avocado pie recipes on the internet, and almost all of them call for sweetened condensed milk. I decided to use sweetened coconut milk, chilled so I could skim off the thick coconut fat, to see if I could get similar results. My general inspiration was a raw key lime pie I had at Cru, a restaurant in L.A. I loved the idea of a pistachio crust, but theirs was sort of soft and mushy, so I sought to make something a little firmer and crunchier. Their filling certainly did not contain avocados – it seemed like sweetened dehydrated kiwi-lime mixture. My pie is a lot creamier as a result, and not quite so tart. The end result is a sort of creamy lime pie, and I wonder if the avocado would even be detected if I didn’t announce the ingredient before I served it.

I must warn you! This recipe is definitely a test recipe, so don’t come running to me if you try it and don’t like how the avocado-lime base doesn’t set up, or that the coconut cream is hard to manage, so you eat the entire bowl of coconut cream with a spoon because it’s so good you can’t stop “tasting it” to “see if the flavor it right.”

Pistachio Crust
Make four miniature pies

1 1/2 Cups Pistachios, ground
2 Tbs Agave Nectar
1 Tbs Water
1/4 tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 250º. Lightly grease the pie pans with vegetable oil or vegan butter. Place 3 hard packed tablespoons of the crust mixture into each pie pan. With moist fingers, gently press the pistachios to the sides and bottom of each pan, forming a crust with a consistent thickness. There should be some leftover crust mixture to help patch holes. Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Cool completely before filling.

Coconut Avocado Lime Filling

1 can Coconut Milk, cream only (chill can and scoop off cream)
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
1 Ripe Avocado, pitted and shelled

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Fill each crust with the filling (about 1/3+ cup per mini crust) and refrigerate.

Coconut Cream Topping

1 Can Coconut Milk, cream only (chill can and scoop off cream)
1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar

Chill cream in the bottom of a mixing bowl, metal if possible. Beat in sugar (by hand with a whisk or with a stand mixer) and chill again. Serve cold!

A slice of kiwi on the top is a perfect compliment to this pie, both in flavor and in color. I wish I had a little sprig of mint for a extra little visual flair, but oh well!

9 comments January 17th, 2007