Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe

Though making a delicious pie is not the only use of rhubarb, it seems to be the most popular and best loved. The key to any successful rhubarb food is using fruit and sugar to balance and complement the strong tart flavor of the rhubarb. The following is the recipe for the strawberry rhubarb pie that I grew up with and loved. I have made this pie for many different groups and it never fails to impress. Even rhubarb skeptics have been pleasantly surprised by the unique, wonderful flavor this pie has to offer. I have even included a tried and true recipe for the pie crust.


Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Crust:

2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 to 5 tablespoons cold water

Cut shortening into flour and salt until particles are the size of small peas. Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons water can be added if necessary).

Gather pastry into a ball; divide into halves and shape each half into a flattened round on lightly floured surface. Roll pastry 2 inches larger than inverted 9 inch pie plate with floured rolling pin. Fold one round into quarters; unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.

Filling:

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 cups strawberries, cut into quarters

2 tablespoons margarine or butter

.

Mix sugar and flour. Turn half of the rhubarb and strawberries into pastry-lined pie plate; sprinkle with half of the sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining fruit and sugar mixture; dot with butter. Cover with top crust that has slits cut in it; seal and flute. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Cover edge with 2 to 3 inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking. Bake at 425 degrees until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust, 40 to 50 minutes.

You may also omit the strawberries and use 4 cups of rhubarb for an all rhubarb pie. In that case, you may want to increase the sugar to 1 2/3 cups.