Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Well this weekend officially felt like summer here in Arlington.  The weather was great, the sun was shiny, and there was finally some rhubarb available in the grocery!  I have been on a rhubarb hunt for nearly a month now.  Store after store I ventured into and still nothing.  I called places; I went to farmer's markets; I even asked a store to call me if they got some.  All to no avail.  Everyone was out or just had some last week, maybe check back later! *sigh* You would have thought I was hunting down Justin Bieber tickets it was so tough to find!  But lo and behold last week while I was running errands I found some rhubarb.  Just sitting there in the back of the store tossed into an old bin.  I bought it all! :)  And I made this delicious pie...

Strawberry rhubarb pie was always a summer tradition in my house.  Growing up my mom kept rhubarb plants behind the house and would pick it and made delicious pies, jams, tarts, and cobblers with it.  I know understand why she kept the plants... it probably saved her 8 hours of hunting it down at grocery stores!  I have always loved rhubarb and its funny celery like look.  Its slightly sour taste and soft texture after being cooked are amazing.  Mix with strawberries, like in this pie, and you have a dynamite dessert!

I actually made a big pie (for my brother) and two little pies (for Nick and I).  If you like the look of the little pies you can follow the recipe below using tart rings to make the smaller pies.  Everything else will be the same but these only bake for 15-20 minutes

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe

Ingredients
yields 1 pie
1.5 lbs rhubarb, cleaned
1 16oz package strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
3 T. cornstarch
1/4 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
1 batch double crust pie dough**
**see recipe below or purchase your favorite brand from the freezer section of your local grocery

Directions
1) Clean the rhubarb of all dirt and chop into small slices (about 1/4 inch thick).

2) Rinse the strawberries and remove their tops.  Slice the strawberries and set aside with the rhubarb in a large mixing bowl.

3) Stir together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt.

4) Combine the strawberries and rhubarb with the sugar mixture until all pieces are evenly coated.  Sprinkle the vanilla extract over to the top.  Place the mixture on the counter to rest for about an hour.

5) Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

6) Roll out the pie dough into two 9-inch rounds (be approximate here, no one will notice if they were a little bigger on one side).

7) Gently place one round in a pie dish; no need to grease the pie dish here as the dough contains so much butter it shouldn't stick.

8) Cut the second pie crust into 10 evenly sized strips (a pizza roller works great here).

9) Pour the strawberry-rhubarb mixture into the pie crust and arrange the 10 strips over the top in a lattice structure.  Crimp the edges of the crust together.  Brush the crust and lattice with a little bit of melted butter (so that it browns nicely).  If you have never done a lattice weave before I like this tutorial from Annie's Eats.

10) Place the pie in the pre-heated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top is browned and the filling has set.

Pie Dough Recipe

Ingredients
yields 1 double crust
2/3 cup butter, cold
2 T. vegetable shortening
1 t. salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
4-5 T. very cold water (add a few ice cubes while it is sitting on the counter, just be sure not to add them to the pie)

1) If you have a food processor place the butter, shortening, flour, and salt into the food processor and process until the dough is the is size of small peas.  Slowly drizzle in the water while pulse processing until the dough begins to come together in large chunks.  The exact amount of water will depend on the age of your flour (older takes more water) and the humidity where you are working (more humid takes less water).  You are looking for the dough to just come together into large clumps without getting sticky.

1b) If you don't have a food processor combine the butter, flour, lard, and salt in a large mixing bowl and use a pastry cutter or fork to mash the butter and lard into the flour.  When the mixture becomes the size of peas slowly add one tablespoon of water at a time to the dough until it begins to come together.  You can work with your hands at this point but be careful not to knead the dough or overwork it or your pie will become chewy instead of flaky.

2) When the dough is finished wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for about an hour to chill.

3) When the dough has chilled remove it from the plastic wrap and separate it into two pieces. One for the bottom crust and one for the top.  Roll out each to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness.  Follow the instructions in your recipe for baking the pie.