A couple of weeks ago I’d never heard of a grape pie. I mean I’ve had all kinds of berry pies (strawberry, strawberry-rhubarb, raspberry, blackberry and loganberry) but never grape. I’d never even thought to try one.
Remember that Martha Meade cookbook I said I’d found at an estate sale recently? Well it had a recipe for grape pie. My mom used it to make a pie while we were away at the fair. While the pie itself tasted good, it had about half an inch of filling in it and this washed out pale pinky gray color. Not at all visually appealing. So I figured grape pie really wasn’t meant to be.
But I’ve run across a lot of references to grape pie lately saying to get a good grape pie you have to peel the grapes, cook the insides and let the cooked stuff cool with the skins in it. I wouldn’t have thought of that. Cause let me tell you peeling five cups of grapes is a lot of work. I spent 3+ hours peeling said grapes last night. I thought it would never, ever end.
As you can see, that’s the secret to making an amazing grape pie. You need to peel the grapes and pre-cook the filling. I also changed the flour to slightly less cornstarch because I figured cornstarch would work better.
Grape Pie
2 1/2 cups grape pulp (recipe below)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
juice of half a lemon
dash of salt
full recipe of 9-inch pie dough (recipe here, just double all ingredients)
Grape Pulp: Take 5 cups destemmed grapes (I used mostly black seedless with a little red) and peel them. Save peels. This will take quite a while to do, make sure to get comfortable before you start. 
Place peeled grapes in medium pot. When all are peeled, cook on high until boiling, turn down heat and let simmer rigorously for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, press grapes through a sieve or use a food mill to liquify grapes (discard solids) and then add to reserved grape skins. Let cool to room temperature before either using or refrigerating for future use. Letting them cool with the grape skins is what gives your pie such amazing color.
Place peeled grapes in medium pot. When all are peeled, cook on high until boiling, turn down heat and let simmer rigorously for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, press grapes through a sieve or use a food mill to liquify grapes (discard solids) and then add to reserved grape skins. Let cool to room temperature before either using or refrigerating for future use. Letting them cool with the grape skins is what gives your pie such amazing color.Pie Assembly:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine all ingredients. Pour into prepared pastry lined pie plate. It will be quite juicy. Cut remaining pie crust into strips. Weave a lattice top onto pie. Flute edges.
Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown.
