Rhubarb Pie - Great Recipes

Each spring the rhubarb patch, once again, becomes the star of the garden for many people. Not much else is growing, yet.

A freshly baked rhubarb pie is the first recipe that "springs" to mind (get it?).

There are three versions that I've made that are so-o-o-o good you'll be glad you made the effort. Read on for the "how-to's".

This Rhubarb Pie picture is from my collection! But other than this one, nearly all the wonderful photos are courtesy of Flickr. I've credited the photographers.

Seriously, just thinking about this pie makes my mouth water. I got this recipe from a good friend who is a wonderful baker. Here's what you do:

INGREDIENTS

3 cups rhubarb, cleaned and chopped into bite size pieces.

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons flour

2 eggs, beaten

Pastry for a 10-inch two crust pie.

NOTE: If you're using early/young rhubarb which is not as tart, go with a little less sugar. I usually go with a little less sugar, anyway.

Simple, simple, simple - toss everything together and pile into a pie pan lined with one crust. Top with the second crust and bake. If you like, you can cut the second crust into strips and weave across the top of the filling.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 45 - 50 minutes until bubbly.

On the other hand, you might want to try Julee Rosso's recipe for Flaky Pie Crust which I have included below.

Or use your favorite pie crust recipe. I guarantee that the filling is what makes this particular pie!!

Try this Ala Mode - Yum!!

Photo Courtesy of Me!

This recipe is from an old 1969 Betty Crocker Cookbook that I have. This is a picture of it. It's a very collectible edition and expensive if you find one in mint condition, which mine isn't.

Good old Betty knew what she was doing, back then...

I use a 10-inch deep-dish glass pie dish for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

Pastry for 10-inch Two-crust Pie

1-3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

5 cups cut-up fresh rhubarb (1/2-inch pieces)

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare pastry. Stir together sugar, flour and orange peel. Turn half the rhubarb into pastry-lined pan; sprinkle with half the sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining rhubarb and sugar mixture; dot with butter.

Cover with top crust which has slits cut in it; seal and flute. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover edge with 2 to 3 inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil lasst 15 minutes of baking.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.

My Betty Crocker cookbook is vintage 1969...how about one of these new, updated versions. You'd still be getting tried and true, you know!

A not-so-bad-for-you recipe

Photo Courtesy of peggyhr

This pie crust recipe comes from Julee Rosso's Great Good Food - Luscious Lower-Fat Cooking cookbook.

As Ms. Rosso says, "To make pie crust delicate and flaky, it has to have fat - therefore, good pie is always an indulgence. But this one has no cholesterol."

Yield: Two 9-inch single-crust pies or one double crust pie.

INGREDIENTS:

2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

6 Tablespoons ice water

1 Tablespoon skim milk

METHOD:

Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl and blend well with a fork. Add the oil and, using a pastry blender or two table knives, cut the oil into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the water and milk over the mixture and blend it with a knife. Using your hands, gather the dough into two balls. Use immediately or wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. When rolling the dough out, roll it between two sheets of waxed paper.

Cal. 148 Carb. 19g Protein 2g Chol. 0 mg Fat 7g/43% (analyzed per slice)

Here's a Martha Stewart tip for a crispier crust. She says, "The secret to keeping a fruit pie crust from getting soggy is egg white..." which bonds the proteins together to form a barrier so the juice from the filling doesn't seep into the crust.

"Lightly beat an egg white; then brush it over the inside of the uncooked shell before adding the fruit mixture. The coating will set as the pie bakes and keep your dessert crisp."

Another "Good Thing". Thanks, Martha!

This is the cookbook with the Flaky Pie Crust recipe I've posted on this page...plus all sorts of other healthy cooking recipes and tips. One of my favorite cookbooks, ever.

Buy From Art.com

This recipe appears in the March 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Living.

It's a long recipe but don't let that scare you. Almost all of Martha Stewart's recipes are very detailed which is a "good thing". It's not nearly as complicated as it looks.

RHUBARB-STRAWBERRY TART WITH CRISP OAT TOPPING

For The Crust

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 Tablespoons ice water

For The Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

For The Filling

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

1 pound rhubarb, sliced 1/4-inch thick (about 4 cups)

8 ounces strawberries, hulled and quartered

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

3 tablespoons fresh orange juice

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon coarse salt

Method

1. For the crust: Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few large pieces remaining. With the machine running, add the ice water in a slow stream, and process utnil dough just holds together. (Dough should not be sticky.)

2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface, and shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or overnight). Dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

3. For the topping: Combine flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or your fingers until large clumps form. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 15 minutes (or covered for up to 2 weeks).

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 14-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to a 9-by-1 3/4-inch tart ring set on a parchment-lined baking sheet, pressing crust onto sheet and up sides of mold. Trim excess flush with rim. (Alternatively, press dough into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Using a kinife, trim sides to be 1-3/4 inches high.) Freeze dough, uncovered for 15 minutes.

5. Cut a 13-inch round of parchment, and place on top of crust. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the edges are just golden, about 30 minutes. Remove weights and parchment, and bake until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Let crust cool completely on sheet on a wire rack.

6. For the filling: Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a medium bowl, reserving the pod for another use. Add the remaining filling ingredients, and stir until combined. Spread on cooled crust, and sprinkle the chilled topping evenly over the filling.

7. Bake until topping is crisp and filling is bubbling, about 1 hour. Let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Carefully remove tart ring, and let cool completely on sheet. Transfer to a serving plate.

So sing along while you make your delicious Strawberry Rhubarb Pie! Meryl Streep and Garrison Keilor perform this little commercial ditty in the movie A Prairie Home Companion.

I, personally, would not be without a piecrust shield. An indispensable pie baking tool, in my opinion.

You can either put it on the crust when you put it in the oven and remove it a few minutes before the pie is finished, OR you can bake the pie and when you notice the crust edges are as brown as you like them, you can put the piecrust shield on while the pie finishes baking.

I have a collection of The Best of Food and Wine Cookbooks and this recipe is from the 1993 collection.

A crostata is a rustic pastry typically made with a fruit filling. The edges of the pastry are folded over the filling and it's baked on a baking sheet rather than in a pie plate.

If you're having guests, prepare this ahead of time and refrigerate it; then pop it into the oven just before serving your entrée. It'll still be warm when it's time to serve dessert.

6 Servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup unbleached flour

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon superfine sugar

1/4 teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt

1 stick (4 ounces) very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 to 3 Tablespoons ice water

2 medium ribs of fresh rhubarb, cut on the diagonal 1/4 inch thick

1/5 pint strawberries, sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

METHOD:

You can prepare the crust using the traditional method or you can use the following food processor method.

In a food processor, combine the flour, 2 tablespoons of the superfine sugar and the salt. Pulse to blend; then add the butter and pulse about 15 times, until the butter is the size of small peas.

With the machine on, add 2 tablespoons of the ice water through ;the feed tube and process for about 10 seconds, until the dough barely begins to forma ball. If the dough is dry and crumbly, add up to 1 tablespoon more ice water and process briefly until incorporated.

At this point, regardless of how you've prepared the dough:

* Transfer the dough to a sheet of aluminum foil and pat to form a 5-inch disk. Wrap the dough completely in the foil and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

* Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 12-inch round. Carefully transfer it to a heavy flat baking sheet and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the superfine sugar.

* Cover the dough with an even layer of rhubarb, leaving a 1-1/2 inch border all around. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the superfine sugar. Arrange the strawberry slices over the rhubarb in concentric circles, with the berries pointing toward the center. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

* Fold the edge of the dough inward to form a 2-inch rim, letting the dough drape gently over the fruit. Lightly press the rim of the dough to the baking sheet, taking care not to mash the fruit. Gently pinch together any pleats that formed when the dough was folded over.

* Bake the tart for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pastry is thoroughly cooked and golden brown and the fruit has given off some of its juice. Let the crostata cool for about 10 minutes, then dust with confectioners' sugar. Cut into wedges and serve warm with whipped cream.

This is an excellent video. The recipe is included and the finished pie is just beautiful.

Grandma Price (not my grandma, unfortunately) demonstrates weaving a lattice pie crust over the filling. It's a little long (about 8 min.) but while she's weaving the crust you can fast-forward a little.

Thank you for visiting. All comments are welcome.