I have finally gotten around to baking a pie and boy is this one delicious. It's from the Dorie Greenspan book "Baking From My Home to Yours." It is a very basic and simple pie but full of flavor. I followed her recipe and it proved to be foolproof. I especially waited until I found the biggest, sweetest blueberries of the season. It is worth the wait. Here is the recipe....
Double Crusted Blueberry Pie
Filling:
2 1/2 pints fresh blueberrie
1 cup sugar, or a little more to taste,
plus more for dusting
1/2 cup all purpose flour
pinch of salt
coarsely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
squirt of fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs (you can use packaged unseasoned ones)
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp water,
for egg wash
Sugar, for dusting
Butter a 9 inch pie plate ( I used a standard Pyrex pie plate).
Working on a well floured surface, roll out one piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.
Fit the dough into the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a 1/2 inch overhang. Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8 inch thick circle and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Cover both the circle and the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you preheat the oven and prepare the filling.
Position rack in the lower third of oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.
Put the berries in a large bowl and gently stir in the sugar, flour, salt, zest and juice; let sit for about 5 minutes. Taste the filling and add more sugar and/or lemon juice if needed.
Remove pie shell and top crust from refrigerator. Sprinkle an even layer of bread crumbs over the bottom of the shell. Give the filling a last stir and turn it into the crust.
Using your fingertips, moisten the rim of the bottom crust with a little cold water water. Center the top crust over the filling and gently press the top crust against the bottom. Either fold the overhang from the top crust under the bottom crust and crimp the edges attractively or press the top crust against the bottom crust and trim the overhang from both crusts even with the rim of the pie plate. Using a small knife cut 4 slits in the top of the crust and cut out a circle in the center. (I omitted the circle and added cut out leaves). Then lift pie onto baking sheet. Glaze and sugar the top of the pie before you put it in the oven.
Bake pie for 30 minutes. Reduce oven to 375 degrees F and bake for another 30 minutes. Pie is done when crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling up through slits. If it seems to be browning too quickly just make a loose foil tent for the pie. (My pie baked for a total of 50 minutes, adding foil tent for last 10 minutes.)
Tranfer pie to a rack and let rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Good for Almost Anything Pie Dough (for a 9 inch double crust)
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsps salt
2 1/2 sticks very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
1/3 cup very cold (or frozen) vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/2 cup ice water
Put flour, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade; pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don't overdo the mixing - what you're aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off gradually add about 6 tablespoons of water - add a little water and pulse once, add some more water and pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If after a dozen or so pulses the dough doesn't look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary or even a few drops more to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the work bowl and onto the work surface. Follow recipe from above to roll out dough.......
Double Crusted Blueberry Pie
Filling:
2 1/2 pints fresh blueberrie
1 cup sugar, or a little more to taste,
plus more for dusting
1/2 cup all purpose flour
pinch of salt
coarsely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
squirt of fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs (you can use packaged unseasoned ones)
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp water,
for egg wash
Sugar, for dusting
Butter a 9 inch pie plate ( I used a standard Pyrex pie plate).
Working on a well floured surface, roll out one piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.
Fit the dough into the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a 1/2 inch overhang. Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8 inch thick circle and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Cover both the circle and the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you preheat the oven and prepare the filling.
Position rack in the lower third of oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.
Put the berries in a large bowl and gently stir in the sugar, flour, salt, zest and juice; let sit for about 5 minutes. Taste the filling and add more sugar and/or lemon juice if needed.
Remove pie shell and top crust from refrigerator. Sprinkle an even layer of bread crumbs over the bottom of the shell. Give the filling a last stir and turn it into the crust.
Using your fingertips, moisten the rim of the bottom crust with a little cold water water. Center the top crust over the filling and gently press the top crust against the bottom. Either fold the overhang from the top crust under the bottom crust and crimp the edges attractively or press the top crust against the bottom crust and trim the overhang from both crusts even with the rim of the pie plate. Using a small knife cut 4 slits in the top of the crust and cut out a circle in the center. (I omitted the circle and added cut out leaves). Then lift pie onto baking sheet. Glaze and sugar the top of the pie before you put it in the oven.
Bake pie for 30 minutes. Reduce oven to 375 degrees F and bake for another 30 minutes. Pie is done when crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling up through slits. If it seems to be browning too quickly just make a loose foil tent for the pie. (My pie baked for a total of 50 minutes, adding foil tent for last 10 minutes.)
Tranfer pie to a rack and let rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Good for Almost Anything Pie Dough (for a 9 inch double crust)
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsps salt
2 1/2 sticks very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
1/3 cup very cold (or frozen) vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/2 cup ice water
Put flour, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade; pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don't overdo the mixing - what you're aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off gradually add about 6 tablespoons of water - add a little water and pulse once, add some more water and pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If after a dozen or so pulses the dough doesn't look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary or even a few drops more to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the work bowl and onto the work surface. Follow recipe from above to roll out dough.......
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