Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Let's take a trip back in time to early summer strawberry season. Nothing I love more than picking my own berries. This year I was spoiled and 2 sets of friends brought home some hand-picked strawberries for me. We had also received some rhubarb in our farm share and I looked into making the only thing I knew how with these two amazing ingredients: PIE! They are both in season at the same time and a match made in heaven!


I have a book simply named "Pie" by Ken Haedrich. He had a great recipe for this pie, and little adaptation was needed! I use the steps to be as time efficient as possible. I refuse to let parenting come in the way of delicious fresh baked treats!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie

Crust: Mom's of babies have to cheat so I used Harris Teeter brand crusts--just soften, unroll, and go. Or you can make homemade crust and freeze until ready for use to save time too.

Prepare in advance, or while fruit portion is baking:

Cornmeal Crumb Topping:

3/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Combine dry ingredients in food processor to mix.


Then add butter and pulse until it resembles fine crumbs. You can then use fingers to make them into larger, buttery crumbs. Refrigerate until ready for use.

Filling:

3 cups rhubarb sliced 1/2 inch thick
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
grated zest of that lemon
4 cups strawberries sliced as appropriate to size
1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare your rhubarb, lemon.


Combine rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice, and zest in large bowl. Toss well then set aside 10 min.

This is when I cut my strawberries and prepared my pie shell (my timing is usually limited to my 8 month old's nap...must be efficient!)

After 10 min add the strawberries and tapioca to the bowl and toss well.


Scrape the filling into pie shell. Place pie in center of oven and heat for 30 min.


Remove from oven, decrease temperature to 375 degrees, and add crumb topping. I recommend covering the crust with something like this to prevent burning. You may also want to put a pan under the pie for bubbling. I used a little ceramic bird shared vent to help with this too.

Bake until juices bubble thickly around edge, about 30 to 40 min. Cool before serving.

Delicious.

Enjoy!