Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

To me, June is strawberries and rhubarb. Growing up, June was strawberries and roses: the red ones outside our back door that always bloomed at graduation time and for my sister Ellen’s birthday. The roses were a true red; for years I grew Mr. Lincoln roses at the Mouse House as they were the closest I could find to the rose bush of my childhood. Eventually, my Mr. Lincoln roses gave out: too little pampering on my part and too much winter road salt; today they have been replaced by white rosa rugosa.

June became strawberries and rhubarb the year I joined the Farm Direct Co-op. There were no problems finding uses for the strawberries in my share; the rhubarb was a bit more challenging. I remembered my grandmother making strawberry rhubarb pie; I don’t remember liking it a lot, my preferred strawberry dessert was strawberry shortcake. Not finding a lot of recipes for rhubarb, I made my first pie and found I loved it. Today, strawberry rhubarb pie signals the beginning of the Farm Direct Co-op season as well as our local farmers market.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I prefer a tart pie so my recipe has less sugar than most.

Ingredients:

• Dough for a 9” double crust pie (I use the rolled, refrigerated Pillsbury dough)
• 2 cups unpeeled, diced young rhubarb stalks
• 2 cups sliced strawberries, tops removed
• 2 2/3 tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
• ½ cup sugar (add up to 1 cup for sweeter pie)

Directions:

• Line an 8” or 9” pie plate loosely with pie dough, pressing dough against bottom of pie plate. To keep bottom crust from getting soggy, brush lightly with egg white, melted butter, or a light sprinkling of flour. Do not prick bottom crust.
• Combine remaining ingredients, stirring gently until well blended. Let stand for 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Turn fruit into pie shell.
• Cover pie with lattice crust:
• Roll out top crust, then cut into ½” wide strips
• To weave, place one strip in center of pie, then lay second strip across center, perpendicular to first strip.
• Continue to alternate strips vertically and horizontally, folding back strips as needed to create an under/over weave.
• When the whole pie is latticed, loosely attach the strips to the pie edge, moistening ends to make them stick.
• Give the pie a decorative edge by rolling the dough hanging over the edge as well as the ends of the lattice pieces up into a ‘rim’ above the edge of the pie plate. Press edge with fork or pinch between fingers to secure edges to each other and to pan.

Bake in a 450 degree oven 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350 degrees, cover edge of crust to prevent over browning (use a pie crust ring or make one from strips of tinfoil) then bake 35 to 40 minutes more or until golden brown.
Cool on rack before serving.

Strawberry rhubarb pie is really good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! (Of course, Coffey ice cream is the best.)