One of the springtime's treats is homemade strawberry rhubarb pie. My four-year-old somehow got the notion that we were going to make a pie, and has been lobbying me to do that for a couple weeks now. So I went out shopping and picked up some strawberries, rhubarb, and some of the frozen pie crusts that Trader Joes sells.
Just so we're perfectly clear: I may be a wannabe house-husband, but I don't make pie crust, since those that I have tried to make end up with the texture of cardboard. The Trader Joes offering is made of pretty decent stuff (i.e. no partially hydrogenated oils) and is really good, so I usually just buy those when I find it necessary to do some pie making. Right now strawberries are fresh, abundant, and cheap (I heard a news story on the radio recently that explained why, but I wasn't really paying attention so I don't remember), so go get a mess of them and make yourself a pie!
Here's my recipe, amalgamated from a variety of sources to make a pretty tasty pie:
- 1 lb container of strawberries, stemmed and sliced (about 3 cups)
- 2 cups of sliced rhubarb
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- Crusts for a nine-inch two-crust pie
- Butter
Preheat your oven to 350º. Wash and stem the strawberries. My daughter sliced them up with one of those serrated plastic "lettuce knives" which, I discovered, are really awesome knives for kids to use in the kitchen. They can't cut themselves with them, but they actually cut through most fruits and vegetables. Put the sliced strawberries in a large mixing bowl. Slice the rhubarb, then add to the mixing bowl after convincing your preschooler that this odd looking vegetable isn't yucky. And for God's sake don't tell her it's a vegetable. It's fruit. You might want to peel the stringy outer layer off the rhubarb stalks before cutting it up. I hadn't planned to but ended up doing so as that part seemed pretty tough.
Pour in sugar and add cornstarch, then mix gently to combine. Prepare a nine-inch pie pan with a bottom crust, then pour in the strawberry and rhubarb mixture. Dot with pieces of butter; I think we ended up using two or three tablespoons. Place top crust over, crimp edges to seal, and cut six or so slits in the top crust to let steam escape. You can also brush the top with some milk and sprinkle on some sugar, but we forgot to do that this time around.
Put pie in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until crust is golden brown and it looks like it's done. You might want to put a baking sheet under the pie in case it blurps out any of the filling on the floor of your oven (I guess we'll be running the self-cleaning cycle in the very near future). Let cool for at least an hour on a wire rack, although you might not be able to wait that long. Bonus points for having some good vanilla ice cream on hand to put on top.