Has it really been over a month since I last wrote? July seems like a blur and we are halfway through August. Where has summer gone? I could talk about the mundane things of life or how busy life is, but really...sometimes you just do life and there's nothing grand to write about, it just is.
So today, I'm going to share a pie recipe with you. I baked it for dessert on one of the many Sunday pasta lunches I've had at Michael's parents. I've learned that Sunday's in Italian families are all about making a sauce and having the family over. I even had the pleasure of learning how to make nonna's sauce and meatballs a couple of Sunday's ago. I'll share the recipe for the meatballs in a future post, but today, it's about pie.
All of summer's glorious berries baked into a flaky light crust. Michael has been asking me to make a bumbleberry pie since forever it seems. He professes it's his favourite. Everytime the mood/occasion strikes for me to make a pie, he requests this, and I until now have never granted his request. And now that I've had it, I'm not so sure what took me so long.
If you like all of summer's berry bounty, you will love this pie. I have been using the same recipe for a flaky pie crust that I came upon last year and haven't used any other since. The trick to this crust is to make sure all of the ingredients are cold, so just pop them into the freezer for an hour or so and you'll be rewarded with a golden flaky pie crust.
happy saturday.
very berry
bumbleberry pieFlaky Pie Crust:
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour (COLD)
1 3/4 cup shortening, cubed (COLD)
6 ounces cold, cold water (ICY)
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
Bumbleberry Filling:
2 cups strawberries
2 cups blueberries
2 cups raspberries
1/2 cup sugar (or more, depending on desired sweetness)
1/4 cup cornstarch
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Filling Directions:
1. Place berries in a large bowl; add 1/2 cup of sugar.
2. Add sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice; stir to combine. Set aside. Spoon mixture into chilled pie shell, mounding berries slightly in the center. Dot with butter. Remove dough from refrigerator, and place over blueberry filling. Tuck edge of top dough between edge of bottom dough and rim of pan. Using your fingers, gently press both layers of dough along the edge to seal, and crimp as desired.
Crust Directions:
1. Blend together the flour, salt and sugar.
2. Add the shortening and work everything together with your fingers.
3. Pour in the water and mix only until just combined.
4. Turn out dough on a floured surface and form a ball, then stick in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
5. After 30 min. bring your dough out from the freezer, cut in half and put one half back in.
6. Roll out on a floured surface and carefully place rolled out dough in a greased pie dish, letting extra dough hang off the sides.
7. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork and then pour the berry filling in the dough. Set aside.
8. Spoon mixture into pie shell, mounding berries slightly in the center. Dot with butter.
9. Remove other half of dough from refrigerator, and roll out. Place over berry filling. Tuck edge of top dough between edge of bottom dough and rim of pan. Using your fingers, gently press both layers of dough along the edge to seal, and crimp as desired.
10. Make an egg wash with one yolk and a little warm water and gently brush all over the top of the pie.
11. Lower the oven temperature to 425º, place the pie on a baking sheet and place in the oven.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until the crust begins to brown. Then lower the oven temperature again to 375º and bake until the crust is a deep golden brown and the juices bubble, 25-30 min longer.
Cool the pie for at least 2 hours before serving
a slice of summer
