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Takes: 1 hour 25 minutes (plus chilling and setting time)
Serves: 8

No nutritional information available.

Ingredients

For the sweet shortcrust pastry:

- 175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 100g butter, cubed
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 egg, beaten

For the lemon filling:

- Finely grated zest and juice of 3 large lemons
- 75g caster sugar
- 40g cornflour
- 4 large egg yolks

For the meringue:

- 4 large egg whites
- 200g caster sugar

Method

1. First, make the pastry. Measure the flour, butter and icing sugar into a food processor. Whiz until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and whiz again until the pastry comes together, being careful not to overmix. Roll the pastry into a ball.

2. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll the dough out thinly until slightly larger than a 23cm fluted loose-bottomed tart tin. Carefully line the base and sides of the tin with the pastry. Prick the base with a fork and chill in the fridge or freezer for at least 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas Mark 6. Line the pastry case with non-stick baking paper and fill with baking beans. Place the tart tin on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes. Remove the beans and paper, and bake for another 5 – 10 minutes, or until it is golden and crisp.

4. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C/140°C Fan/Gas Mark 3. Meanwhile, to make the lemon filling, measure the lemon zest and juice, caster sugar and cornflour into a saucepan, and mix well. Gradually pour in 300ml cold water, stirring all the time, then whisk over a medium heat until thickened. Remove from the heat.

5. Beat the egg yolks with a small whisk, then add them to the lemon mixture in the pan, which will have cooled slightly. Whisk well again. Pour into the pastry case and set aside.

6. For the meringue, place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl and whisk with an electric hand whisk until it looks like cloud. Gradually add the caster sugar, a dessert spoon at a time, until glossy and shiny. Spoon on top of the lemon filling and swirl the top.

7. Bake for about 35 minutes until the meringue is a pale straw colour, but is still soft in the middle. Set aside for about 1 hour.

8. Remove the pie from the tin and serve ideally warm or cold, but not hot or the lemon filling will be too runny.