Polly want a Pie

Andy and I had dinner with friends on the weekend, and we were asked to bring dessert. My problem is that I don't want to be a one-trick pony, constantly making the same things to share. But at the same time, I obviously want to use recipes that I know work, especially when sharing. So I spent some time trawling through all the "dessert" tagged posts on this blog, looked through my cookbooks, thought about the weather, and settled on pie.

I have made this pie, once before, a long time ago. The recipe is from the Food Network, and it's called "Polly's Perfect Blueberry Pie". (Hence Andy's suggested title for this blog post.) It may be more of a tart than a pie, but regardless of semantics, it is a really great recipe. It is easy to do, and quick. And the best part is that the press-in pie crust doesn't require ice cold ingredients, it isn't aided by a food processor, and there is no rolling out. Perfect for a pastry-phobe in the tropical summer. And since it's not at all about developing glutens, I suspect that gluten-free flour would be just fine (but this is an un-tested hypothesis).

Here's how it goes.

Crust
2 c. sifted plain flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 to 2/3 c. sunflower oil
3 to 4 Tbsp. non-dairy milk

Filling
500grams (1 quart) frozen blueberries, thawed
3-4 Tbsp. corn flour
3/4 c. sugar
a dash of cinnamon
a dash of nutmeg
1 tsp. lime juice
4 tsp. margarine (optional, but my mum always did this, so I do too)

The crust can be mixed in the pie plate, and this is what I did, but I think it would be easier to do well in a bowl. In a 9 inch pie pan, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. In a jug, mix the oil and milk. Drizzle over the dry ingredients and mix with a fork until everything is dampened, but try to avoid over mixing.

Use your hands to press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan. About 1/3 should fall over the edge of the pan, keep this until later.

If you've mixed the dough in a bowl, just keep some of the mixture separate from the start.

Tidy up the edge of the crust, and then prepare the filling. In a bowl, mix the berries, corn flour, sugar, and spices. Pour them into the crust. Sprinkle the lime juice over the berries, then dot with margarine and sprinkle the reserved crust crumbles over the top.

Bake the pie in a 180(350F) oven for 45 to 50 minutes (if the berries are still frozen, the pie will take a while). If the crust is browning but the filling isn't setting up, cover the pie with aluminium foil.

Our was a little juicy, but when it cooled fully, it was fine. I was pretty nervous before cutting that the crust would crumble and we'd be eating a sloppy mess, but it worked perfectly.

This was really good. I wish we had more right now.