Recipe: pecan pie

Perfect pecan pie

Total time: About 1 hour

Our recipes, your kitchen: If you try any of the L.A. Times Test Kitchen recipes from this week’s Food section, please share it with us: Click here to upload pictures of the finished dish.

Servings: 8

Olive oil crust

1 1/2 cups sifted flour (6 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla or orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier (Armagnac or cognac will work as well)

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons milk

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Make a well in the middle of the mixture, and pour in the vanilla, oil and milk. Stir the liquids into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly (as with a graham cracker crust). The mixture should clump together when pressed between your fingers; if it is a bit dry, add a little more olive oil 1 teaspoon at a time.

2. Pour the crumbly mixture into a 9-inch pie plate and, working from the center of the plate, press the mixture evenly over the plate to form a crust.

Pecan pie assembly

2 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup maple syrup

Prepared olive oil crust

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar. Beat in the salt, then the olive oil and maple syrup until evenly combined to form the filling.

3. Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the filling and place on the center rack of the oven.

4. Bake the pie until the filling is set (it should barely jiggle when tapped), about 40 minutes. Remove the pie to a rack to cool to room temperature before serving.

Each serving: 556 calories; 6 grams protein; 63 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 33 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 53 mg cholesterol; 42 grams sugar; 315 mg sodium.