Olallieberry Pie & The Barefoot Contessa's Perfect Pie Crust

By Foodiewife

There are really two recipes here. First, Ina Garten shares how to make perfect pie crust with a combination of unsalted butter and shortening (I buy organic shortening at Whole Foods). The secret is in keeping the ingredients ice cold!

As for the berry filling, I used olallieberries. These are berries found on the Western coast of California and Oregon. You can use any berries at all, if you can't find these. The pie crust is my go to from now on!

Ingredients

• CRUST:
• 12 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
• 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water, about 1/2 cup
• BERRIES:
• 8 cups of olallieberries, or any kind of fresh berries in your area
• 1 cup sugar, less, if the berries aren't tart
• 2 tablespoons Clearjel (from King Arthur flour), or 2 tablespoons flour or cornstarch (whichever thickener you prefer)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1 egg and splash water (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Pie crust:

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture

Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix.

Add the butter and shortening.

Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas.

With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball.

Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board.

Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.

Berry filling:

Pick any stems and debris from the fresh berries. Rinse and drain.
Note: frozen berries work fine, too.

Combine Clearjel (or flour or cornstarch) to the sugar and whisk to combine. Add the lemon juice and allow to sit for a few minutes. Stir in the berries. Taste to check for tartness.

Once you have the bottom layer of the pie crust in the pie pan, poke the bottom with a fork a few times. Add the berries mixture. If desired, you can add a few pats of butter.

Cover with the top pie crust. Cut slits for steam to escape. Crimp to seal both pie crusts.

Whisk egg and water and brush the egg wash over the pie crust, before baking, if desired. This gives a nice golden color to the pie. If you have coarse sugar, it's a nice tough to sprinkle some on top, if desired.

On a baking sheet, place the pie into a 375°F oven and bake for about 50 minutes, or until golden.

Allow to cool for at least 4 hours. Serve with vanilla bean ice cream.

The crust is awesome!

I'll show you how to make this on my food blog at: http://foodiewife-kitchen.blogspot.com/2010/06/california-olallieberry-pie-barefoot.html