Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Pie is one of our serious obsessions.  Whenever we travel, we are on the lookout for the best local pie.  On a recent trip to Austin, we enjoyed several mini pies from the Cutie Pies food truck.  Our favorite was the bumbleberry.  Last weekend, we drove to New Orleans and stopped in Beaumont for the sweet potato pie at Willy Ray's BBQ.  (David ate more than just pie, but this is a vegetarian blog so we won't talk any more about that).    We love that Willy Ray's serves sweet potato pie as the side vegetable of the day.  In New Orleans, we had a slice of chocolate pecan chess pie at Dick and Jenny's.  And whenever we drive out to see the annual wildflowers in Texas Hill Country, we gorge on pie at Bevers in Chappell Hill.  Even the local Exxon station in Chappell Hill sells great pies, especially the coconut cream pie.

We will forever be on a quest for the perfect pie, but we frankly think there is nothing better than a pie freshly baked at home.  It is one of those homey desserts that is hard to perfect on a mass scale.   The trickiest element is the crust, which is often the most disappointing part of any store-bought pie.  We have tried many recipes at home, and have settled on what we think is the perfect crust.  We love our pie crust recipe and know that you will too.

When it comes to fillings, rhubarb is one of our favorites.  We love rhubarb so much that we are trying to grow it here in Houston even though these plants really prefer cool weather.  We started seeds last fall, but sadly many of the seedlings did not survive the winter.  Those that did are still so small that any harvest is many, many months away.  Luckily, rhubarb is now available, combining perfectly with the gorgeous local strawberries.  The filling for this pie is little more than fruit and sugar, so make sure to use strawberries and rhubarb that are packed with flavor.  The resulting pie is wonderfully sweet and tart at the same time, brimming over with gorgeous red fruit and thick juices inside a super-flaky crust.   After we made this pie, we checked on our rhubarb seedlings hoping that there had been a dramatic growth spurt in the last week.  Sadly, no.  But this pie has convinced us to redouble our efforts to grow rhubarb this year.  And we will have no problem using every last bit of our harvest.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients

Crust  (makes enough for 2 pies or a top and bottom crust)

2          cups     unbleached A.P. flour
1/4       tsp       salt
1          tsp       sugar
1/2       lb         unsalted butter, cubed and kept cold
1/4       cup      vegetable shortening, cold
1/4       cup      ice water

Filling

2                      pie crusts, one rolled out and lining pie pan, chilled
                        one rolled out and chilled for top
3 1/2    cups     strawberries, washed and sliced
3 1/2    cups     rhubarb, sliced into 1" pieces
1 1/4    cup       sugar, plus more for top
5          Tbs      unbleached A.P. flour
1/2       tsp        orange zest
1/8       tsp        salt
3          Tbs      butter, cubed
                        small amount of heavy cream for lattice top

Procedure

Crust

1. Combine Dry.  Add half the butter and mix until resembles coarse meal.  Add rest of butter and the shortening and cut in, leaving larger pieces of fat (around 1/4").  Add ice water until dough forms a ball (you may not need all the water).
2. Divide into two balls, wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate.  Let dough rest at least 4 hours before rolling out, but will keep for several days in the refrigerator if you want to plan ahead.
3. Roll out on a well-floured surface.  

Filling

1. Preheat oven to 400° convection (450° conventional).  Place a shelf in the middle for the pie, and another shelf below.  On lower shelf, place a sheet pan lined with a silpat or parchment paper.  This pan will catch the dripping juices as the pie bakes.
2. Roll out bottom crust and line pie pan.  Return pan with crust to refrigerator.
3. Roll out top crust and refrigerate.  When chilled for about 15 minutes, cut into strips for lattice top.  Return to refrigerator.
4. Combine filling ingredients (except the butter and heavy cream).
5. Add filling to pie pan and dot the top of the filling with the butter cubes.
6. Remove lattice strips from refrigerator and make lattice top.  Brush strips lightly with the heavy cream using a pastry brush or your finger, then sprinkle sugar on top.
7. Freeze pie for 15 minutes before placing in oven.
8. Bake for 10 minutes, or until crust looks lightened and dry.  Reduce oven temperature to 325° convection (375° conventional) and continue to bake until crust is golden and fillings and thick and bubbling, about 45 minutes in our oven.
9. Cool completely on a wire rack to allow juices to thicken before cutting into pie.  Store at room temp.

Printable Recipe

If you love rhubarb as much as we do, try our Rhubarb Strawberry Cobbler .
You can also make a delicious quick Rhubarb Sauce perfect on ice cream or pound cake