AMERICAN BLUEBERRY PIE

RUSTIC

I made this for my friend Troy, he lives in Australia and was over visiting and I asked what pie he would like thinking chicken and mushroom or steak, but No he wanted blue berry pie and we Troy returns later this year he has put a forward order in for chocolate eclairs! 

Ingredients 

(makes two pies)

The Pastry

450g plain flour

110g grated lard

110g grated butter

1 pinch of Himalayan sea salt 

180ml cold water

The Pie Filling

300g blueberries

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla paste

Make the Pastry first as this will need to chill in the fridge for half an hour.  Place all the ingredients except the water in a large bowl and gently mix evenly, add the water and bring to a ball, wrap in cling film, press the ball flatter in to a disk and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Place the sugar, vanilla and blueberries in a saucepan over a low medium heat and cook until they resemble blueberry jam, remove from the pan and leave to cool.

Cut the pastry in half and one half can be frozen for your next batch.  Cut the remaining half in half again and shap into balls, roll out to the thickness of a pound coin.  Line the pie tin with the pastry, and trim off any excess, I like to crimp the top edges of the pastry for that rustic farmhouse look.  Line the inside of the pastry with baking paper and baking beans, 

Pre heat your oven 180 degrees C and bake for 15 minutes, remove the baking beans and parchment paper and bake for a further 5 minutes, add the pie filling and finish of baking for a further 10 minutes, serve warm with cream.