Blueberry Pie

Sue wanted to make pie, so we all went to the farmer's market and got berries. Sue, my mom, and I mixed my favorite pie crust with Sue's favorite blueberry pie recipe. This is a deep dish pie, btw,
 

Ingredients:

Pie crust:

• 8 ounces all-purpose flour (1 2/3 cups; 225g, plus more for dusting)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)
• 8 ounces unsalted butter (2 sticks; 225g), cold
• 4 ounces cold water (1/2 cup; 115g)

Filling:

• 8 cups blueberries, picked over and washed (We used 1.5 very generous pints of berries from the farmer's market, plus about 2 cups of tiny frozen wild Maine berries)
  
• ½ cup or 140 grams sugar
• 2 tablespoons  lemon juice
• 2 to 3 tablespoons arrowroot flour or cornstarch (we may have used tapioca flour)
  
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  

Instructions:

1. Make the pie crust:  Whisk flour, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. 
2. Cut butter into 1/2-inch cubes -- quarter each stick into 4 long sections, then cut sticks into cubes. 
3. Toss with flour mixture to break up the pieces and coat each piece.
4. With your fingertips, smash each cube flat. 
5. Stir in water, then stir dough until it comes together in a shaggy ball.
   (The dough temperature should between 65 and 70°F -- if not, refrigerate briefly before rolling and folding.)
6. On a very well floured work surface, roll dough into a roughly 10- by 15-inch rectangle.
   (Use extra flour if it seems at all sticky)
7. Fold the 10-inch sides together at the center, then fold together lengthwise to make a 4 layer stack.
8.  Fold dough in half width wise, making fat thick block. 
9. Divide the dough in half.
   (The dough temperature should between 65 and 70°F -- if not, refrigerate briefly before rolling.) 
10. On a well floured surface, roll one piece into a 14-inch circle and drape across a 9-inch pie plate. (Use additional flour if needed. Dust off excess flour with a pastry brush.)
11. Trim the edge so that it overhangs rim by 1 inch all around. 
12. Fold overhang back into panto create a thick border on top of the rim.
13. Crimp or shape crust as desired. Place back in the refrigerator.
14. For the lattice, roll the other dough piece into a 9.5 by 15-inch rectangle on top of a floured piece of paper. (You will make ~ 9" strips!)
    
15. Place the uncut sheet on a baking sheet or cutting board. 
16. Wrap both portions in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
    (Do not pre-bake this crust!)
    
    
17. After the dough has set in the refrigerator, prepare the pie filling.
    
18. Separate 1 cup of the blueberries, and combine them in the bowl of a food processor or blender with the sugar, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and the salt, then pulse to purée. 
19. Put the blueberry mixture into a small pot set over medium-high heat, and cook, whisking constantly, until the liquid has just thickened, approximately 1 minute. Pour the thickened mixture over the remaining blueberries, and stir to combine.
20. Mound the filling high in the center of the pie shell, and apply the egg wash to the top edge of the  bottom crust.
    
21. Fill the pie pan with the filling.
22. Using a lattice cutter or a knife, make 12 or more long strips that are longer than the top of your pie.
    (Cut along the shorter 9" edge!)
23. Arrange the strips in a lattice - review here if you want instructions.
24. Brush pie crust with egg wash and sprinkle with large crystal sugar.
    
25. Use a large fork to press the lattice strips into the top rim.
26. Place the pie into the freezer to set, approximately 20 minutes or 30 minutes in the refrigerator.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees while pie is chilling.
27. Place the chilled pie pie on a baking sheet, and bake for about 30 minutes. 
28. Rotate the pie, reduce heat to 350, and bake until the pie is golden and the filling has begun to bubble up through the vents, another 25 to 45 minutes. (We placed a crust cover on the edges for the last half of baking.)
    
29. Allow pie to cool to room temperature before you cut into it.
    

 

Carole's Notes:

We all liked this!  We did find that the pie crust recipe did not like to be pre-baked with Mom's new pie weights - we pulled it out after a few minutes when it began to slump.

The filling recipe is  lightly adapted from https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018208-blueberry-pie and the pie crust is from here: https://carolelikesroundfood.blogspot.com/2017/03/flaky-flexible-pie-crust-for-lattice.html