Summer = blueberry pie

So a couple weeks ago I went up to Maine for a wedding and felt so fortunate to indulge in wild caught lobster in Portland, taste farm fresh aged green peppercorn goat cheese in Belfast and pick up a heavenly slice of mixed summer berry pie (chock full of wild Maine blueberries!) in Camden. As the berry season swiftly winds down I thought I'd take this chance to post the recipe for this ambrosial blueberry pie I've made a few times this summer.

I have not mastered the art of making pie crusts, they're tricky and mine often come out dense and chewy. I found this this recipe for a flaky crust that's so easy, you just blend all the ingredients in the food processor, pat into a ball and chill! The use of two kinds of fat render a light and flaky crust.

Crust:
Combine 1.5 cups of all purpose or wheat flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 oz (or 1/6 cup) of COLD shortening or earth balance, and 1/3 cup of cold butter in your food processor. Pulse chop for about 15 seconds. Sprinkle in 1/4 cup of COLD water and chop until you've achieved a dough like consistency with pea size pieces of butter and shortening. Form into a ball and chill in the fridge for an hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375° and then grease a 9" pie dish. Roll the dough into a circle of 1/4 inch thickness as best as you can between two pieces of parchment and then transfer the dough to the pie dish. Mold to the sides so the dough is evenly covering the pie dish. No need to prebake.

Prepare the filling:

Ingredients:
3-4 cups of blueberries
2/3 c of sugar
7 T of cornstarch
3 T of water
2 T of lemon juice
1/2 t of cinnamon
1/4 t allspice

Crumb topping:
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c flour
1/4 cold butter or earth balance
-Blend in food processor until crumbly

Rinse blueberries well and pull out any stems or discardables .
Combine sugar, spices and cornstarch in a bowl and mix well. Add lemon juice and water, stir.
Add blueberries into the crust and pour the sugar mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle crumb topping over blueberries and bake for 1 hour or until topping is golden brown and berries have started to burst. Let rest at least 20 minutes minutes before serving to cool and congeal. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if desired.