Dried Peach Pie with Crumbled Cookie Crust

Prepare the crust: In the bowl of a food processor set with the meta blade, pulse the cookies, ¼ cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until sandy in texture, then add the melted butter and pulse a few more times to combine. Turn out the mixture into a buttered 9½-inch deep-dish pie plate, pressing evenly onto the sides and bottom to form a crust with uniform thickness. Freeze the crust and, just before filling and baking, run a pairing knife around the top edge to trim the cookie crust cleanly.Prepare the peaches: In a large sauté pan, combine the dried peach slices with 1 tablespoon sugar, cardamom, vanilla and water. Gently simmer until the apples have absorbed the water and are plumped.

Remove the peaches from the pan and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, prepare the custard filling: In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, flour and a pinch of salt.

Add the eggs and ½ teaspoon vanilla, and whisk until incorporated.

Whisk in the milk until completely combined. Set aside.Prepare the peaches: In a large sauté pan, combine the dried peach slices with the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, cardamom, remaining ½ teaspoon vanilla and water. Gently warm over low heat until the peaches have absorbed the water and are plumped.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.If there is any excess liquid with the peaches, discard the liquid, and arrange or scatter the peaches in the bottom of the prepared frozen crust.

Pour the custard filling over the peaches, leaving one-eighth inch of crust at the top. Do not overfill, save any additional custard filling for another use.

Place the pie on the bottom rack of the oven and bake until the custard starts to brown on top and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour, (depending on the type of pie dish). The finished pie will still jiggle slightly when remove from the oven but will set as it cools.Cool the pie on a rack, then sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.