Southern Baked Pie Blueberry Crostata Recipe

Southern Baked Pie Company’s Amanda Wilbanks is sharing the recipe for her Simple Blueberry Crostata, the perfect, easy blueberry pie recipe from her new cookbook.

Pie season is here!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love getting together with all of my favorite people around good food (and good wine) and sharing what we’re thankful for. Despite not eating turkey and missing out on extras like stuffing, gravy and, shudder, veggies with bacon in them (#vegetarianprobs), I look forward to Thanksgiving food all year long. Bring on the cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, Brussels sprouts, and the rolls, all of the rolls. And we can’t forget pie, of course.

Full disclosure, I’ve never actually made a pie from scratch. It just always seems too difficult or time consuming. My eyes glaze over every time I see a video of how to make a lattice crust.

But while my family was visiting me in Nashville a few weeks ago, we popped into Draper James in 12 South and had the pleasure of meeting Amanda Wilbanks from Southern Baked Pie Company. She had just finished up a book signing, and we got to talking (and flipping through her beautiful new cookbook, “Southern Baked: Celebrating Life With Pie“), and I couldn’t leave the store without a copy of my own. (My sweet Nana bought it for me, perhaps hinting I should learn how to bake a pie one of these days.)

Amanda is absolutely lovely and her pies are just as sweet as she is. My boyfriend Alex and I are bringing two of her recipes with us to Colorado for Thanksgiving with his family this year: the Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie and the Blueberry Crostata. I love a fruit pie and knew I had to try the crostata because there’s not an intimidating crust situation.

That’s why it’s one of Amanda’s favorites too. “When I make a pie, I feel like the pleating has to be perfect and the final product has to look flawless and taste amazing,” she says. “Crostata’s are the opposite of perfection—rustic and easy. Crostata’s are fun to make when you don’t feel like being so perfect.” Plus, the crostata is all about the crust. “I am a crust lover. Crostatas give you a LOT of crust with just a little filling, which is what I’ve always loved.”

And it’s EASY. We love an easy recipe. “Once you have your crust, you simply fill with blueberries (fresh or frozen), make a crumble and bake,” she says. “There’s very few tools needed. I also love that it can be a year-round dessert. I often make it with frozen blueberries in the winter because it’s an easy, comforting, weeknight dessert.”

As for some of her other favorites from the book, which is full of family recipes that she grew up with, the classic pie crust tops her list. “It’s the recipe that helped me started my pie company,” she told me. “Had I never made that recipe, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today. I love the flaky texture of the dough when it bakes and the buttery taste. Some pie doughs can be bland and taste like cardboard. That’s not the case with my Southern Baked Pie Dough recipe. I can even eat it raw, it’s that good!” (Another one of her favs is the Chicken Madeira, which her husband cooked for her on their third date and won her over with.)

In case you need an easy, delicious dessert recipe for Thanksgiving, I decided to share what I’ll be bringing to the table. Check out Amanda’s beautiful new cookbook for even more Southern-inspired meals and desserts that you’ll make over and over again for years to come.

Simple Blueberry Crostata

Serves 6-8

Southern Baked Pie Dough
Makes dough for 1 single crust 9-inch pie

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Crostata

• 1 recipe SB Pie Dough (recipe above)
• 3 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• Zest and juice from 1 large lemon

Crumb Topping

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter

Southern Baked Pie Dough

1. Cut the butter into small cubes. Combine butter and flour in a mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour. Add the salt and sugar. Continue to work the butter into the flour until the mixture has a consistency of course-ground cornmeal. The cubes of butter should now be smaller than the size of a green pea.
2. Add the water, all at once. Continue to work the dough until the dough begins to come together. Form the dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, and press into the shape of a disk. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours to chill.
3. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out to desired size on a lightly floured surface.

Tip: The trick to making delicious pie dough is using cold ingredients. I even chill my flour, salt, and sugar. Starting with very cold butter and ice water will make a world of difference when it comes to the texture of the dough.

Crostata

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Roll out dough into a 12-inch circle. Place onto baking sheet.
3. In a large bowl, combine blueberries, flour, sugar, zest, and juice; mix thoroughly. Pour the blueberry mixture into the center of the dough, making a mound and leaving a 1 1/2-inch border around the edge of the dough.

Crumb Topping

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and butter together using a pastry blender or fork. Evenly crumble the topping mixture over the blueberries.
2. Fold the dough up over the edge of the blueberries, pinching to create pleats. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Meet Amanda on any of the upcoming stops on her book tour. You can also catch her on the Hallmark Channel Home and Family TV Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 10 a.m. EST. Southern Baked Pie also offers a Pie Of The Month Club subscription service. Yes, that means you can have fresh baked pie delivered to your door on the reg. Sign me up. Great for gifting and for feeding your pie craving all throughout 2019.

Photos by Gill Autrey