Ingredients
Pie Crust:
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, plus more for preparing the pan
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- â…“ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 2 egg yolks
- ¼ cup cold water
Chess Filling:
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cups butter or margarine, melted
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- Powdered sugar, for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the pie crust: Generously butter a 10-inch round, fluted tart pan. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, salt, black pepper and lemon zest. Working quickly, rub the cold butter into the dry mixture using your fingers or a pastry cutter. Cut the butter into the flour until the pieces are the size of small pebbles. (Alternatively, use a food processor to pulse the dry ingredients with the butter.) Add the egg yolks and the cold water. Using your hands, combine just until the dough comes together in clumps. Gather dough into a ball; flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill at least 30 minutes.
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out chilled dough between two sheets of parchment or on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch round. Using the rolling pin, transfer dough into the prepared tart pan. Press the dough into the fluted sides and trim any overhang to 1/4 inch above the pan. Chill the dough again for at least 20 minutes.
- Line the pie dough with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the crust is lightly browned along the edges and beginning to firm up, about 18 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment and bake for another 5 minutes to lightly brown the edges. Press down the surface with the back of a spoon if the crust bubbles. Allow the crust to cool completely before filling. Adjust the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- As the crust cools, prepare the filling: Stir together sugar, cornmeal, flour, salt, melted butter, milk, white vinegar, and vanilla extract until blended. Add eggs, and stir well before pouring into piecrust.
- Bake at 350° for 50 to 55 minutes, shielding edges with aluminum foil after 10 minutes to prevent excessive browning. Cool completely on a wire rack. If desired, garnish with powdered sugar.