Watermelon Pie

Even though I've already delved into autumn flavors with all the pumpkin lately, it still feels like summer here in Texas, so here's a recipe from The Runaway Spoon appropriate for the temperatures outside. I meant to make this a couple weeks ago, but was being lazy about juicing the watermelon. So in the intervening time between me buying the watermelon and actually cutting into it, it's been terrorizing Bailey (my dog) while it sat in the corner of my kitchen. Why do I get the "special" dogs? Maybe it's appropriate that on her first birthday I vanquished the evil melon with my chef's knife...
Word to the wise: watermelon is basically all juice. One of those small seedless watermelons is more than enough for the 4 cups of juice needed for this recipe.

The filling for this pie is basically just watermelon jelly. Juice, sugar, cornstarch, and boil it for a few minutes. Not much to it. 

The jelly/filling had to set up for a few hours, so there was no instant gratification here. Maybe this is why I default to cookies. You can eat them immediately. No planning, no waiting. Just cookies.

I didn't particularly care for this pie. The watermelon and graham crust didn't really go together. The recipe called for a shortbread crust, but I can't bring myself to pay $5 for a package of shortbread cookies just to turn them into crust. Why are there no store brand shortbread cookies?

The filling came together easily, just boil. Then let sit. 

Its a very smooth, pretty filling, but the flavor just wasn't there. It was more water than melon. Maybe I was expecting Jolly Rancher type watermelon flavor with this pie, but it was a very mild watermelon taste. The watermelon itself was delicious, so I wouldn't blame the fruit. I think this is a great idea that just needs some refinement.