Some people have a signature dish that defines them within the world around them. The dish becomes the reputation that precedes them and then follows them wherever they go. Such it was with Kit Gunn and his chocolate-walnut pie.

Kit was a longtime friend who passed away in March. In the days after I heard the news, I recalled many things about Kit, who had a very complex mind — “sort of an egghead’s egghead” — and was a fascinating person in so many respects. But in the midst of it all, I kept coming back to The Pie.

It’s fitting that an extraordinary person like Kit would have this particular pie as his signature dish, because it is, well, the best pie I have ever eaten. It’s reminiscent of the Douglas County Pie that was served at the erstwhile Paradise Cafe in Lawrence — only Kit’s pie is better.

I will even confess to having planned more than one potluck supper at my house solely so I could invite Kit and Kit could bring The Pie.

Kit’s wife, Diana Odom Gunn, was kind enough to share his detailed instructions for reproducing The Pie. According to a note that Kit wrote at the top, this recipe evolved from one that appeared in a woman’s magazine in the early 1960s, and that pie supposedly was Dinah Shore’s favorite dessert. I feel confident that she would like this one better.

Rather than format this as a clinical recipe, I have left intact most of Kit’s personal instructions. This is, after all, his pie.

Kit’s Chocolate-Walnut Pie

9-inch pie shell: You had better put this in a fairly deep pie pan, or it will overflow all over the oven. The cheapest kind of disposable foil pans are a disaster, but the newer deep-dish foil pans are OK.

Filling: Mix next five ingredients with spoon until smooth:

3 large eggs, lightly beaten with fork

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1 1/4 cups white corn syrup

Add: Mix gently to avoid breaking nuts:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate bits

Approximately 2/3 cup English walnut halves

Cold Topping:

Whipped cream (Be a damn shame to put ReddiWhip on this…)

Pour filling into unbaked pie shell. Poke filling around some to get walnuts vaguely distributed around top although they really seem to find their own spot during baking. Bake in 360- or 375-degree oven for approximately 45 minutes. Pie will rise almost like a souffle’ and top will crack as it is lifted up. (It falls upon cooling.) You will have to decide if you want the pie really done so as to kill all those dreaded salmonellas (like my mother does), or whether you want to take it out after maybe 40 minutes, when the center seems still a little runny. (It will subsequently set.) Pie is just fine if it’s good and cooked, but I think it is better if it is a little less done; the chocolate bits retain more of their identity and the top is not as hard. Whatever.

A couple of years ago, I read a James Beard pecan pie recipe where he dotted the top with six (6!) tablespoons of butter before baking. I refuse to go to that extreme but have found that dotting chocolate-walnut pie top with maybe 2 tablespoons of butter before baking is an improvement. Makes the top lighter, more praline-like or something,

Best when served approximately three hours out of oven, when it is almost but not quite cool. Will be good kept lightly covered at room temperature for two, three days. Would ruin to refrigerate, I think.

Pie is itself sugar overdose, so slightly under-sweetened whipped cream helps set off flavor.