Several times over the last few months, I have considered making some kind of a fruit pie. And then not done it, because the last time I tried to make a crust it didn't work and I and I had to throw it out. And making crust is time-consuming and messy and I just haven't had all that much time or patience to make one! But this week, I decided that I was going to actually make a pie with some nectarines I had. And since there weren't quite enough nectarines to fill a pie, I decided that I would add blueberries. And then I wanted to add some kind of herb because I finally have a place to plant herbs in the ground and I love it! (My rosemary and mint plants are doing fantastically, the basil is struggling...but I managed to pull just enough leaves off of my basil plant to throw in the pie).
I searched around Google for a bit and settled on this recipe/directions from Savory Simple to use as my base.
The crust
2 cups white flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
scant 1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz cold unsalted butter
~1/2 c cold water
The filling
5 nectarines
2 large handfuls of blueberries
~1 tbsp chopped basil leaves
(I used cinnamon basil because that was the only basil plants Lowes had when I went to buy my garden herbs!)
scant 1/4 c white sugar
scant 1/4 c brown sugar
~2 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
3 tbsp corn starch
Bake at 425 for 20 minutes then lower to 375 and cook for 35 minutes.
(My crust came out slightly burned, so 25-30 minutes probably would have been sufficient.)
I used my pastry cutter and a knife to make the pie dough. I skipped painting the top crust with milk/sugar. I did make a lattice crust for the first time! I was in a hurry to get the pie in the oven before friends came over for dinner, so it was slightly sloppy...but I've always said taste is more important than looks! And the pie was definitely a big hit!
There was a giant flour explosion all over the counter by the time I was done rolling out the pie dough...but I managed to keep the mess confined to the counter, so clean up wasn't tooooo bad.
