Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Don’t those three words just make you think of summer? Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is not the kind of pie you think of at Thanksgiving or Christmas, it’s definitely a summer time pie. Sweet ripe berries and tart, tangy rhubarb…..be still my tongue!

I am not lucky enough to grow my own rhubarb, but I am lucky enough to have a very special neighbor who has a little patch in her yard. While I was out in the garden last week she said to me “if you want that rhubarb, just come and take it, we won’t use it”. Well that’s all I had to hear. I do admit I felt a bit guilty chopping down the huge leafed plant, but my guilt melted away as I began making the pie. I’m not sure anyone in my neighbor’s family even likes rhubarb, but I will offer them pie anyway. My husband has never had strawberry rhubarb pie! Can you imagine that? I mean most people have at least tasted it, but nope, not him. Well we will fix that.

I used an Elise recipe (simplyrecipes.com) and it turned out fabulous. It was the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. I used ¾ of a cup of sugar since my berries were very sweet. I think the addition of the quick cooking tapioca was genius. It thickened it up just right. I shared half the pie with my neighbors, they loved it! Happniess all around. Well not quite all around. John tried a bite. Not for him. This recipe goes into “things John won’t eat file”, which is not a very big file at all. I think the only other thing in that file is eggplant. Pity.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Printable recipe
3 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces (Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks; make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous; trim ends.)
1 cup strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of grated orange peel
1 9-inch piecrust
(If making a 10 inch pie, or just want more filling, use 4.5 cups of rhubarb, 1.5 cups strawberries, and 1 1/4 cup of sugar) Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix the rhubarb and the strawberries with the sugar, tapioca, salt, and orange rind. Let sit for 10 minutes. Turn into a pastry lined pan. Top with the pastry, trim the edge, and crimp the top and bottom edges together. Cut slits in the top for the steam to escape.

Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F, and bake an additional 30-40 minutes longer. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or cold. If you do cool to room temperature, the juices will have more time to thicken.