Naples Grape Pie
- Ready In:
- 55mins
- Ingredients:
- 5
- Yields:
-
1 9inch pie
ingredients
- 5 1⁄2 cups concord grapes, washed
- 1 cup sugar, depending on the sweetness of the grapes
- 1 tablespoon tapioca
- butter
- 1 pastry dough, for a 9-inch pie
directions
- Pop the skins off the grapes by pinching them at the end opposite the stem; set them aside.
- Put the pulp (without water) into a heavy pan, bring it to a boil, and let it boil 5 to 6 minutes; put it through a colander or food mill to remove the seeds.
- Pour the hot pulp over the skins and let the mixture sit for 5 hours (Irene says this colors the pulp and makes it pretty).
- Add the sugar and tapioca, then pour the mixture into the pie crust and dot with butter.
- Put on the top crust (Irene uses a"floating" top crust—a circle of dough slightly smaller than the top of the pie—because it is easier than crimping top and bottom together and it also makes a pretty purple ring around the edge).
- Bake at 400° for 15 minutes.
- Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and cook 20 minutes more until the crust is browned and the juice begins to bubble up.
Questions & Replies

Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
I have made grape pies for years. I find that cornstarch makes a much better thickener than flour or tapioca. The filling is very labor intensive so I do 1/2 to 1 bushel and freeze the filling for use later. One bushel of grapes makes enough filling for 40+ pies. Irene Bouchard did not invent this pie but she did popularize it. I have my mother's cookbook "The New American Cook Book" from 1941 and there is a very good recipe for grape pie (using cornstarch) in it.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I'm a real estate agent in the lovely city of Rochester, New York. That's not what I expected to do with my life. I got my bachelor's in psychology, my masters in literacy education, and I taught high school special education for two years. Then I discovered that helping people find the homes of their dreams was my real passion. I've been doing it for over two years now and still absolutely love my career.
Other than that, I have a very spoiled Border Collie mix named Bear that I adopted from a local shelter in spring '08. He's gorgeous and fun and brings me great joy. Now if only I could find a man like that... LOL!