Seedless Blackberry Cobbler ( My Favorite )

Filling:

4 generous cups fresh (or frozen) blackberries
1-3/4 cups sugar, to taste
4 tbsp. flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
pinch salt
3 tbsp. cornstarch

Pastry:

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup shortening
4 tbsp. milk

      Heat oven to 375ºF (190ºC),  Put blackberries in a medium pot, cover with water.  Bring to a boil, let simmer to make juice.  Press on berries with back of a spoon periodically to release juice.  Pass berry mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove seeds, pulp, mashing berries to squeeze out all juice.  Return juice to pot, add sugar, flour, butter and salt.  Whisk until well-combined, free of lumps.   Bring to a slow boil.  Mix 3 tbsp. cornstarch in 1/3 cup water; add to boiling mixture.  Whisk until thickened and glossy.  Remove from heat, set aside to cool.  While filling cools, prepare cobbler pastry.  Blend flour, salt, shortening, using a pastry cutter or fork until it reaches a course meal texture.  Add milk, knead just until blended and dough holds together.  Chill 30 minutes.  Roll out dough on a floured surface to 1/8 - 1/4" approximately.  Cut into long 1/2" wide strips.  Pour 1/2 filling mixture into a greased 9×13" baking dish.  Lay just under half of pastry strips across top of filling.  Top with remaining half filling.  Use rest of strips to form a lattice-type layer or simply arrange them as desired.  Before baking:  If desired, brush pastry with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tsp, water) and/or sprinkle of granulated sugar.   Bake 45 minutes, until crust is golden and filling is bubbling.  Serve warm with heavy cream,  ice cream, whipped topping or whipped cream.