Professor Butter Beard’s Blueberry Pie
One two-crust pie
Pie Dough:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (divided)
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
20 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
¼ cup ice water
¼ cup bread crumbs
Egg wash and additional 1 Tbsp sugar to finish
Blueberry filling:
5 cups fresh blueberries
Zest and juice of one lemon
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp fine sea salt
½ tsp ground allspice
1) In a food processor, pulse together 1 ½ cups flour, the sugar and salt. Add 16 Tbsp (2 sticks) of the butter and process into a paste. Break apart the paste into 1” pieces and add the final 1 cup flour. Pulse together four times. Empty the contents into a medium bowl and grate in the remaining 4 Tbsp butter. Quickly toss with your fingers, add the ice water and gather quickly into a dough. Halve the dough, wrap each portion in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
2) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and prepare an egg wash (one egg and 1 Tbsp water).
3) In a medium bowl whisk together the filling sugar, flour, salt, allspice and lemon zest. Add the blueberries and toss. Squeeze the lemon over the berries and toss again. Set aside.
4) Roll out the first half of the dough to a 1/8” thick circle. Place it in your pie pan and trim off the excess. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the bottom of the shell and chill the shell while you roll the other half. Once the top crust is rolled and ready, fill the bottom shell with the berry mixture. Using your fingertips, moisten the bottom rim with cold water. Lay the top crust over, trim the excess and crimp the edges together with a fork. Cut a steam hole in the center of the top crust.
5) Re-roll the excess dough and cut decorative pieces. Brush the top crust with the egg wash. Place the decorative pieces on the shell and then egg wash them as well. Sprinkle the finished top with sugar.
6) Bake at 425 for 30 minutes, rotate the pie, then reduce the heat to 375 and bake for 30 minutes more until the filling is bubbling through the center hole.
