Rhubarb is a veggie that looks like celery with a sunburn. It is wonderfully tart. So please, do not drown rhubarb with so much sugar and sweet fruit that you concoct something your guests describe with a shrug (when you’re away from the table) as “Oh, it’s strawberries and ah, something else.” Two years ago, in Spring, I made a Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp. Yesterday, I had a roll of pie crust in the freezer, so I decided to make a pie with a crisp top. The weight ratio of 3:2, rhubarb to strawberries, is about right. So here we have a rhubarb pie with strawberries:
Rhubarb Strawberry Pie
See abbreviations, if needed.
For the pie dough:
1. Make your own or thaw out a frozen one.
2. Roll it out (always from the center) to about a size 4 inches
greater than the deep dish pie pan.
3. Place crust in the buttered pie pan
4. Hold in the fridge
For the topping:
1. Place 1/2 cup of AP flour, 3/4 cup of sugar and a pinch of
salt in a food processor bowl and
spin to mix (or whisk all in a SSB).
2. Add 6 tablespoons of butter (ambient and cubed) and spin again.
3. Add 1.5 cups of Quaker Oats and spin them in briefly.
4. Set aside
For the pie:
1.5 lbs rhubarb, ends trimmed, stalk sliced on a bias 1/2″
1 lb fresh strawberries,
halved or quartered to bit size
3/4C sugar
2T cornstarch
1T lemon juice
zest grated zest of one small
orange
1/4t vanilla extract
pinch salt
1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Place sliced rhubarb and strawberries in a large SSB
3. Dry mix sugar, cornstarch and salt
4. Add lemon juice and orange zest to the SSB and fold in
5. Add sugar mix to SSB and fold in thoroughly
6. Remove deep dish pie pan, with crust, from the fridge
7. Empty the SSB into the pie pan with a slotted spoon (reserve
the juice)
8. Shake, poke around and tap gently to fill gaps in the pie
pan
9. Add some of the juice if the mixture, in the pie pan, appears
too dry (not likely)
10. Crumble the topping over the pie and fold over the pie crust
(see photo)
11. Bake on a cookie sheet for 25 minutes at 400F
12. Reduce temperature to 350F and bake for about 35 minutes
more until crust is golden brown and pie juices are
bubbling.
13. Let cool on rack
14. Serve with ice cream and espresso coffee
