This is one of our favorite pies. The ingredients are very simple, nothing to interfere with the fruit itself. One of my husband's sisters would not make a blueberry pie without the wild blueberries available here during July. If you can find the wild variety, use them. But, if not, the cultivated berries make an excellent pie as well.
| 2 | qts. | BlueberriesWashed and drained well |
| 1 | cup | White SugarBe just a little generous, a slightly rounded cup |
| 1 | tbsp | Lemon JuiceA quarter of a medium size lemon, squeezed |
| ¼ | cup | Minute Tapioca |
| 2 | tbsp | Flour, All Purpose, Unbleached |
| 1 | tbsp | Lightly Salted ButterA touch of salt contributes much to the overall flavor of the pie. |
| 2 | tbsp | Bread Crumbs |
| 1 | This recipe is for a 9 inch pyrex deep pie plate. These pie plates are available in most grocery or kitchen supply stores. |
| 2 | Place the drained blueberries in a large mixing bowl. |
| 3 | Add the sugar, tapioca, flour and lemon juice. |
| 4 | I mix this by taking hold of the bowl on either side and just bouncing the bowl up and pulling it toward me slightly so that the blueberries are lifted gently and mix in with the other ingredients. I do this "bouncing" perhaps four times. I prefer not to use a spoon to do this because it might crush some of the berries. |
| 5 | Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. |
| 6 | Roll out the bottom crust using the directions referred to above. |
| 7 | Distribute the bread crumbs over the bottom of the crust. This helps keep the crust from getting soggy. |
| 8 | Gently spoon the blueberry mixture into the crust, making sure to include anything that adheres to the bottom of the bowl. You may need to distribute the berries carefully, since this will mound up over the top of the pie plate. |
| 9 | Cut up the butter into five or so little pieces and distribute over the blueberries. |
| 10 | Roll out the top crust using the pie crust directions and gently center it over the blueberries letting the sides drape over the edges of the bottom crust. |
| 11 | To join the top and bottom crusts gently drape the top crust over the bottom crust, by folding the top crust over the bottom crust without stretching either one. Pinch the two crusts together gently along the edge of the pie plate and let the crust edge rest on the pie plate edge. Hopefully you'll have enough crust there to crimp it so that it looks acceptable to you. There are no rules about this. And I have to admit this part continues to be a bit of a challenge for me, but I just proceed the best I can and the results are usually quite wonderful. The baking process does a lot for the look of the crust. |
| 12 | Before putting the pie in the oven, cut some slits, four or five in the top crust to allow for some steam to escape and thereby prevent the crust from separating where you wish it wouldn't. I also enjoy a little creativity here, for example cutting a large "B" into the top crust for this pie. |
| 13 | Put the pie in the preheated oven. I bake this pie for about one and a half hours. Place some sort of pan on rack below the pie to catch any drippings. Also, after about a half hour it's a good idea to cover the top crust with a sheet of aluminum foil to prevent the crust from getting too dark. The foil can just be placed loosely on top for this purpose. Some kitchen supply stores sell aluminum tops for just this purpose. I have two and have continued to reuse them for a number of years. |
| 14 | The pie is finished when the crust is dark golden and even more important when you can notice that the juice from the blueberries is bubbling and looking syrup-py. |
| 15 | Take the pie out and let it cool on a rack. I think these pies benefit from a good cooling until they reach room temperature. I even prefer baking fruit pies the day before I'm planning to serve them. |