This is a recipe for an improvised pie made from fresh blackberries hat I picked with some friends in a meadow near Oxford. I used the berries frozen, although I’m sure it would turn out well with fresh berries. This is a combination of several recipes – a butter crust pastry, a thick and sweet filling, and a crumbly oat topping. If I were going to make this again, I would follow Mark Bittman’s recipe for pie crust.

Ingredients

Crust

• 8 T (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into about 8 pieces
• 1 1/2 c flour, more for rolling
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 T sugar

Filling

• 5-6 c blackberries (depending on the size of the berry, use more for smaller berries)
• 1/3 to 1/2 c sugar (depending on how sweet the berries are)
• 4 T lemon juice
• 1/4 c flour

Topping

• 1/2 c flour
• 2 T white sugar
• 2 T brown sugar
• 4 T butter, softened

Instructions

Crust

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees and butter a 9-by-13-inch or similar-size baking dish; set aside. In a food processor, combine 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, the salt and 2 tablespoons sugar; pulse once or twice.
2. Add butter and turn on machine; process until butter and flour are blended and mixture looks like coarse cornmeal, about 15 to 20 seconds.
3. Slowly add 1/4 cup ice water through feed tube and process until just combined.
4. Form dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic and freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (You can refrigerate dough for up to a couple of days, or freeze it, tightly wrapped, for up to a couple of weeks.)

Pie

1. For the filling: Mix berries, sugar, lemon juice, and flour together in a bowl and set aside.
   Note: If you want the “perfect” pie, thicken the mixture with a combination of 2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca (ground) and one peeled and grated apple. The combination will yield a filling that is neither gummy nor runny.
2. For the topping: Mix butter into flour and sugars.
3. Spread the pie dough into the butter pie dish. Fill with blackberry mixture, and sprinkle with topping. Back 20-30 minutes, until pie filling is bubbling and topping is golden brown.