I am sure Blueberry Pie Filling makes for a tasty pie in winter but I don’t make much pie. Actually, I probably have made ten pies total in my life. Pies are a pain-in-the-ass to make if you aren’t a pie maker and if you aren’t a pie maker, no pie you make is ever going to be as good as a pie maker’s pie.
That said, I love Blueberry Pie Filling. The recipe is adapted from Complete Book of Home Preserving by Ball. It’s a great book if you are a beginning canner (experienced canners I am sure have it).
Servings: Makes 1 case small ball jars
Ingredients
7 cups blueberries
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbl lemon juice
Method
- Place blueberries and sugar in a large preserving pan and bring to a boil. If you need to, add a cup or so of water to help ensure the sugar dissolves. Leave to boil until sugar dissolves. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and boil another minute.
- Remove all from stove, cover with a parchment lid and cool overnight in the fridge.
- Next day,prepare water bath canner, lids, jars.
- Strain out the blueberries and reduce the liquid until syrupy. Be careful not to burn the syrup but you want to get it pretty reduced.
- Add blueberries back into mixture and stir to combine and heat through.
- Fill jars and process 30 minutes.
Uses:
- Serve as a drizzle over (lemon!) cake. I use the grapefruit cake from Bouchon at Home but sub in lemon.
- Strain blueberries, use syrup for soda and blueberries top top yogurt
- Heat through with a sprig of rosemary, taste and adjust flavor with some wine or honey vinegar, mount with butter, season and serve atop chicken or pork.
- Pour jar over oatmeal with a nugget of brown sugar.
