Delicious Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb and strawberries are two foods which just scream summer for me. You haven't had a strawberry if you haven't had an inseason upstate New York berry. Those things you can buy year round in the supermarket are not strawberries, they are something flavorless and sad. And let me say that if you have never had rhubarb, you are missing out. This is one of my all time favorite flavors but it is hard to describe, which is probably why I like it so much. When you eat it you get tartness right away, but that is followed by a completely unique flavor that you just have to try.

Rhubarb is a vegetable (no matter what the US courts say) which originated in China. Traders and explorers brought it to different parts of Europe where it eventually found its way to the US, where it was quite popular. It is unfortunate because it seems rhubarb is no longer very popular among young people. Most people I know either haven't heard of it or have never eaten it. I have only seen it in the supermarket a handful of times, usually when they have local farm-direct produce. The thing is, it is so easy to grow! Stick it in a box in the garden and it comes back every year. We never weed or water ours and it is always fine. It is the first thing ready to harvest in the spring and if you don't pick too much at once it will last all summer.

Delicious Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Crust

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

3/4 cup vegetable shortening

5 to 6 tablespoons ice water

Filling

1 cup sugar (I like mine a little more tart, add another 1/4 cup if you'd like)

1/4 cup tapioca (I think)

1/3 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

3 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2 in. pieces

2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled

1/2 a fresh lemon, squeezed

First make the crust. Mix the flour and salt in a food processor and then add the shortening and pulse until the mixure looks like crumbs. Add a tablespoon of the ice water and pulse a couple times. Add the water a tablespoon at a time until the dough just comes together between your fingers. Divide the dough in two pieces, one just a little smaller than the other. Shape into discs and refrigerate for at least an hour (or overnight).

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Make the filling by mixing the tapioca, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the rhubarb, strawberries and lemon juice.

Lightly flour a flat surface and roll out the larger pastry disc to approx. 1/8 of an inch thick. Handle and roll the dough as little as possible! And do not roll out more than once because it will get tough. Put the rolled out dough in a 9 inch pie pan and trim the edges to a 1 inch overhang.

This is where I prebaked my crust for 5 minutes. However, doing this will make it difficult to crimp the edges with the top crust and make it all pretty. I did it anyway because I don't really care about crimping and I don't like soggy crust. Since this isn't a custard filling, it isn't entirely necessary to prebake, so do whatever you feel like.

Spoon the filling into your crust and roll out the remaining dough to approx. 1/8 inch thick. Lay ontop of the filling and crimp the two together the best you can. I like to sprinkle a little sugar ontop of my crust so it carmelizes in the oven, but don't put a lot.

Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 45-50 minutes until golden and delicious. Let cool completely and serve with some fresh berries and ice cream.

Notes:

In the recipe I said I was not sure how much tapioca to put in. Use whatever it says on the back of the tapioca box. I ran out and threw the box away, so I don't remember exactly.

Don't eat rhubarb leaves, they are mildly poisonous!