Josephine’s Patchwork Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

After a few more farmers’ market trips this month, the abundance of rhubarb I've collected is beginning to take over my refrigerator. While I want to keep my kitchen creative and come up with more new and innovative ways to use the rhubarb, my craving for a tasty traditional dish was winning me over; like waking me up at 6:00am on a Sunday morning to make a pie kind of winning.

As I began looking over a few great recipes, I decided to try a little mix-and-match when developing my own take on the pie. I chose an adapted version of Chatelaine’s Very Berry Galette for the crust and reviewed a series of recipes to help me decide on the ratios for the strawberry rhubarb filling.  When it comes to baking I'm usually very diligent about following a specific recipe, but I love Chatelaine’s crust so much that I was determined to use it for this pie. In the end, I learned that patching together different recipes isn't as scary as I thought it would be, especially when you are careful with your ratios and consider that pie crusts are fairly universal.

JOSEPHINE'S PATCHWORK STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE

INGREDIENTS

Crust

2 ½ cups             all purpose flour  

2 tbsp                 granulated sugar

½ tsp                   salt

1 cup                   soft butter

8 tsp                     ice water

2 tbsp                    lemon juice

Filling

2 cups                   strawberries (sliced)

2 cups                   rhubarb (cleaned and chopped – trim ends)

½ cup                    granulated sugar                       

3tbsp                      cornstarch

1tsp                        coarse sugar

1/8 tsp                    salt           

DIRECTIONS

1.     Crust: preheat oven to 375F. Mix flour, sugar and salt using electric mixer. Add butter and continue to mix until the pastry looks like little crumbs. Keep mixing as you add ice water and lemon juice until the ingredients form dough. Using lightly floured hands form pastry into a ball and then cut in half. Lightly coat rolling pin and cutting-board with flour. Roll pastries into two circles, each slightly wider than your pie dish (use one circle to line the bottom of the pie dish and the other to cover the pie).

2.     Filling: combine granulated sugar, cornstarch and 1/8 tsp of salt in a bowl. Stir in berries until coated.

3.     Line the bottom of pie dish with one pastry and add filling. Cover the pie filling with the second pastry circle. Pinch the edges of the pastry together and use a fork to crimp them. Brush the top of the pie with water or egg whites, cut small slits in the centre with a knife (to allow steam to escape) and sprinkle the top with coarse sugar.

4.     Bake for 40-45 minutes (or until the crust is golden).  Remove from oven and let stand for 15 min. Serve warm.

*Mommy-life tip: pastry can be made ahead of time, wrapped in plastic and stored in the fridge for a maximum of three days. Before rolling, let stand until it’s back to room temperature (approximately 20-30 min).

The make-ahead tip is perfect if you're planning a dinner party or in case this becomes a two-nap process. 

Enjoy!

Trying to bake during nap-time can be crazy. Do you have any mommy-life tips for baking? Would love to hear them. Please leave a comment below :)