Orange Curd and Chocolate Ganache Pie

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     What do you like to do with oranges when you have an over-abundance of them? Last week we became the grateful recipients of some delicious, tree sweetened oranges.  I already was able to can some Cranberry Orange Marmalade, but that only made a small dent in our inventory.  I promised you more recipes, and today I have a really sweet one for you, perfect for a Valentine's Day dessert. 
     Everyone has probably heard of citrus curds.  Lemon curd is the most well known.  It is delicious on scones or in a pie.  I have seen recipes for grapefruit curd as well. So, I thought why not an orange curd?  Of course, it turned out sweet and wonderful.  But, you know how I am, the gears started turning and I thought about how much we like chocolate with oranges.  Those chocolate covered orange sticks are a family favorite, and those chocolates that are shaped like an orange come to mind.  So, I thought, why not an orange curd meringue pie with a layer of chocolate ganache?  I hadn't really even made a ganache before.  It was so easy! If you haven't made one, you will wonder what you have waited for. 
​       So, lets start making this delight, one step at a time. 

First I made the Orange Curd.  After you make it, it has to cool for an hour.  During that time is when I made the pie crust and the ganache.  Here is the orange curd recipe:

After I put the pie shell in the oven, I made the chocolate ganache.  Here is the recipe:

     Seriously, that is it! So simple!  Depending on how sweet you want the ganache, use that sweet of chocolate in it. 
     After the shell is out and slightly cooled, I spread a thin layer of the ganache over the bottom of the shell.  I had enough to coat two pies. Then I let it cool a bit.

I love how shiny it turned out.

     When the ganache is fairly cool, spread the orange curd over the top of it. 

The final step is to add the meringue. I whipped up the 6 whites that were left over with a little cream of tartar and when they started to get whipped, I added sugar (to taste) until stiff peaks formed.  Then, I piled it onto the pie.

Now, you put it in the oven set at 450 degrees F for about 5 min.  (Well, as you can tell, I left mine in a little longer.  I got distracted.  What you really want is for the meringue to be set with golden brown parts on the peaks.)

Luckily, I got it out before it was too far gone.

     Now, you need to refrigerate the pie until it is set.  We had a little trouble waiting quite long enough, but the result was delicious. 

The orange curd is hiding the chocolate, but you can taste it when you get in there and eat it.

     There was enough orange curd for 1- 9" pie.  If you are wondering what I did with the other ganache coated pie shell, I filled it with chocolate pudding and topped it with whipped heavy cream! you can't go wrong with that! 
​        Now, for the rest of these oranges, I will let you know how my orange chicken turns out!