No Bake Crushed Strawberry Pie

My son grows strawberries in his garden (I'm a lucky mom:@) and we had 2 C crushed and frozen fruit left over. I debated about making jam but decided to go a different route, and I mean really different route, and make a No Bake Crushed Strawberry Pie. That turned out to be a very good decision! This pie was bursting with flavor and brought back sweet memories of warm, sunny spring days... And has us looking forward to this year's berries.

An added bonus, you can make this pie a day ahead so it has plenty of time to set-up.
We topped it with whipped cream, I think a nice billowy meringue topping would be great too.

No Bake Crushed Strawberry Pie

2 C crushed strawberries, thawed if frozen
2/3 C sugar-you might need to add more depending upon how sweet your berries are
1/4 C corn starch-extra jelling insurance since the berries were frozen
1 Tblsp lemon juice
*Pie crust, store bought or a no bake version as shown HERE
Whipped cream or ice cream for serving, optional but pretty

1. Mix berries, sugar, corn starch and lemon juice in medium sauce pan. Slowly bring to a boil over medium heat, cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.
2. Pour into pie crust (*I used a purchased graham cracker crust and feel they're a little smaller than a traditional 9" pie plate). Allow to cool at room temperature then cover with plastic touching top of filling and place in fridge to fully firm up.

It's National Pie Day, let's celebrate with a slice and have a happy day:@)

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