Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
Fruit pies are hands down my favorite dessert, especially when served with Robert’s Vanilla Ice Cream (page 239 in my cookbook). Nothing heralds summer quite like a slice of this Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie. As I have aged, and become more cognizant of calories, I have taken to using only an upper crust on most fruit pies. I find the pies just as satisfying. They are not as classically pretty, with fruit sandwiched between melt-in-your-mouth crust, and oftentimes seem sloppy, spilling onto the plate rather than maintaining a wedge, so it’s up to you and your waistline. I’d rethink my stance if I ate pie once a month rather than twice a week.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
Makes one 9-inch deep-dish pie
1 recipe Pie Crust, page 242 in my cookbook, prepared at least 2 hours in advance
Filling
2 cups fresh rhubarb, sliced into 3/4-inch chunks
3 cups fresh strawberries,
washed, stemmed, halved
1-1/4 cups sugar
zest and juice from ½ a lemon
zest from 1/2 an orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1-1/2 tablespoons flour
2-1/2 tablespoons Minute Tapioca
Assemblage
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg white, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
1 tablespoon large granular sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Toss all the filling ingredients together in a bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes. Roll out the bottom pie crust and fit it into a deep-dish pie pan. Add the filling and dot with the 2 tablespoons of butter.
Roll out the upper crust. Brush the top of this crust lightly with the egg white, then sprinkle with sugar. You can either keep the upper crust whole and place it on the pie like a top or you can create a traditional lattice. For the latter, cut the dough into 14 narrow strips and basket weave strips directly onto the pie’s surface. Begin by placing strips of dough parallel and equal distance from each other. Weave in strips at right angles to these by gently pulling back every other strip, starting at the center so you go over-under-over-under. Sounds hard, but it is easy once you get the hang of it.
Tear off a large piece of heavy-duty foil and wrap it under the pie pan and create a collar to catch juices. Place pie on a pizza pan for easy handling and set pie on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake 1 hour or more until the crust is golden brown and the juices are bubbling up. Cool for a few hours before slicing.
**This is best served a few hours after baking so the juices have time to set up.