Christmas Berry Pie

Christmas is my father's holiday to do all the cooking. He plans weeks in advance, types up a list of the different foods he's going to cook on different days, it's basically a very big deal for him and there are only even, at most, 8 people. This year my mom called and said Dad has you down to bake a pie for Christmas. Well I knew that he had some specific idea of what pie he wanted e to make, so I called him and he requested a "Fruits of the Forrest" pie. This is know in Italian as frutti di bosco. Well lets be honest, with exception of my apple blueberry pie, that is actually a recipe from Emeril, my luck with berry pies hasn't been the best. Even still I wanted to put my own pie together and not just follow a recipe. Below is what I came up with after a few dry runs for my last Sweet Sunday post. Everyone really enjoyed it and it did taste very Christmasy.

Christmas Berry Pie
(this recipe is for a 10 inch pie plate)

Pie crust for a 2-crust pie
10-12oz blueberries (I used 2 small containers)
10-12oz raspberries (2 small containers)
15-18oz blackberries (3 small containers)
3 gala apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp butter

1. Pre-heat oven to 400F. In a medium sized bowl put the apple slices and 1/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp cinnamon, 2 Tbsp flour, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Toss to coat and let sit.
2. In a large bowl put the blueberries and blackberries, toss with the remaining sugar, lemon juice, flour and spices.
3. Roll out pie crust and place in a pie plate. Layer the apples on the bottom of the crust. Then gently spread a layer of plain raspberries evenly over the apples (They are such a delicate berry that I find this works better that tossing them with everything and gets a more even distribution of the tartness of the berry in each slice of pie)Then carefully pour the blueberry/blackberry mixture on top and spread evenly. Dot with butter and top with 2nd pie crust, crimping the edges and cutting holes to vent.
4. Place on a cookie sheet and into the pre-heated over for 1 hour until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling.
5. Remove from oven and let cool completely before serving.

We had quite a few desserts to chose from after Christmas dinner and I was pleasantly surprised that everyone chose to try my pie and really enjoyed it. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is full of lots of tasty food and love from time spent with family and loved ones. Enjoy!