It's as Easy as Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
/Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. Three words I never would have put together on my own. You see, I don't love cooked strawberries, except in a jam-like state. And, rhubarb and I have previously been unacquainted. Pie is not something I make as a regular event.
My friend had a birthday and she loves fruit pies. So I thought I'd try my hand at making one for her. My CSA box contained both strawberries and rhubarb this particular week. I took a chance, asked a few friends some questions and concocted this lovely pie.
To be honest, I only had a small bit of it (I used regular flour pie crust instead of gluten-free) and I was wary of all that cooked fruit goodness in one place. I was pleasantly surprised by the resulting pie: not too juicy, nor overly sweet with a nice crunch from the rhubarb. I did read later on that there should be no crunch from the rhubarb but my friend said she preferred it this way (maybe only to be nice?!).
I think I also understand the saying "It's as simple as pie" now. I diced a few things, measured out some sugar, vanilla and lemon juice and plopped it all in a pie crust (yes, I used pre-made, we've already discussed that I am not much in the way of pastry doughs). Ina bout an hour, I had a pie that was cooling on a rack awaiting some frozen treat to be served alongside of it.
Pies are going to be featured a little bit more in my summer cooking. It's still quite warm here in San Francisco (which is not the weather we normally have in June) which is inspiring me to experiment with some more pie combinations soon. I'm thinking a plum variety, maybe with some apricot thrown in there, with a gluten-free piecrust so I can fully enjoy myself.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients:
- 3 stalks rhubarb, cleaned and diced
- 1.5 pounds strawberries, cleaned, hulled and cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsps real vanilla extract
- 2 prepared pie crusts (gluten-free pastry dough mix can be found here)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a large bowl place the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla.
- Using a large spoon (or I use my hands) thoroughly coat the rhubarb and strawberries in the sugar and liquids.
- Let sit for ten minutes, to get the juice flowing out of the fruit.
- While the mixture rests, take one of your pie crusts, flatten it out and cut it into strips to form the lattice for the top of the pie.
- After ten minutes has passed, put the fruit mixture into the remaining piecrust, making sure all of the juice get into the pie as well.
- Cover with strips of piecrust, making a criss-cross (or whatever pattern you like if you have a favorite style, as long as there are air holes of the steam to escape while baking).
- Crimp the edge of the top lattice to the bottom edge of the piecrust.
- Place the pie pan on a baking dish or put some aluminum foil underneath the pan to catch any drips.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F.
- Turn the oven down to 375 degrees F and bake for another 40 to 45 minutes.
- If the crust is browning too quickly, tent the pie with foil.
- Once the pie is out of the oven, rest it on a cooling rack for an hour (or if you want it to be warm, 40 minutes) before cutting and serving.
- Serve alongside ice cream or sorbet.
