Summer Pie Anytime (make-ahead Fruit Pie Filling)

Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 3 lbs firm-ripe apricots or 3 lbs peaches
• 1/2 cup sugar or 1/2 cup splenda sugar substitute
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon or 1/2 teaspoon mace
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Recipe

• 1 cut each of the apricots lengthwise into quarters (sixths if they're very large), discarding pits, (if using peaches, peel them and cut into thin wedges). you should have about 8 cups fruit total.
• 2 in a large bowl, gently mix fruit, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour (see note), lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt; taste fruit and add more sugar if desired (up to 3/4 cup total).
• 3 line a 9-inch pie pan with 20-inch-long sheet of foil (there should be about 5 inches of overhang on each side of the pan); line the foil with a 20-inch-long piece of plastic wrap.
• 4 pour fruit into plastic wrap; pull edges together and fold over to seal; then repeat to seal foil over plastic.
• 5 freeze up to 3 months, removing from pie pan, after filling is hard, about 8 hours.
• 6 from freezer to oven:.
• 7 to bake pie, unwrap frozen filling and place in a 9-inch pie pan lined with an unbaked crust; cover with top crust, crimp edges to seal, cut small slits in top to vent.
• 8 place on foil lined baking sheet, for easy clean-up, bake pie in a 375°f oven or convection until top crust is browned and filling is bubbling in the center,1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours (if crust gets brown before filling is bubbling, cover loosely with foil).