Thank you to the punny genius who established 3/14 as the day to celebrate pi (and) pie. Any day where there’s a reason to eat pie is a great day. Add in snowpocalyptic weather and a piece of warm pie is even more welcome.

I decided to do a braided lattice because I was feelin’ a little fancy. If you don’t want to take the time to braid pieces of dough, you can do a normal lattice or no lattice at all, it’s completely up to you!

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Blueberry Pie

For the crust: 

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 cup vegetable shortening, cut into 1 inch cubes

6-7 tablespoons very cold water

For the filling: 

4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

 

For the crust:

Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl.

Add the shortening and cut in with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Sprinkle the water over the flour and shortening mixture, one tablespoon at a time, and mix with a fork until the dough begins to come together into a ball. You may need to use more or less water, depending on the temperature, the conditions, etc.

Divide the dough in half and form each half into a flattened disc. Wrap each disc separately in plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

For the filling:

Combine 2 cups of blueberries (reserve the other 2 cups), flour, cornstarch, and sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until mixture is syrupy and has thickened a bit. Stir in the lemon juice and then add to the remaining two cups of blueberries. Mix until combined.

Assembly:

Set a 9 inch pie plate aside. Preheat oven to 425 F.

Take one of the discs of dough and roll into a round 2 inches larger than the pie pan. Make sure to flour the board and top of the dough while rolling it out to prevent sticking. Ease the round into the pie plate. Fill with the blueberry filling.

Taking the second disc of dough, roll into a round 2 inches larger than the pie plate. If you want to do a lattice top, cut strips of dough, and weave over the filling. Trim the excess dough from the edges of the pie. If you want to do a braided lattice, cut 3, 1/4-inch wide strips, and braid. I did different size strips to be artsy. Experiment and try out different size widths for the strips! You also can just roll out the round of dough and place that over the filling. Crimp or flute the edges of the crust.

Bake the pie for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 F and bake 30-35 minutes more. Let cool before serving.

Serves: 12