This Strawberry Rhubarb Pie recipe uses my grandma (Nanoo’s) classic pie crust dough. Some people use butter or a combination of shortenings in their crust, but she was team Crisco all the way. Nanoo was an all around extraordinary cook and baker but her pies were her crowning glory. People would talk about them for months or even years after they got to taste one. One of her tenets of life was the ability to laugh at yourself, so if you make mistakes on this one, just laugh it off!
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 1 hour 15 min
Total time: 3 hours
You’ll need:
For the crust:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup Crisco or unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup ice water
For the filling:
1 cup rhubarb, chopped (about 2 - 3 large stalks)
4 - 5 cups berries, chopped (I use 90% strawberries but you can also mix in fresh or frozen raspberries)
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons tapioca starch
LET’S DO IT!
To make the crust:
-
In a large bowl, mix 3 cups of flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt. With a pastry blender or fork (or pulse in a food processor) blend in 1 cup Crisco until it looks crumbly.
-
Gradually add in ice water in 1-2 tablespoon increments until the dough starts to stick together and form a ball. Don’t let it get sticky though, if it is slick/sticky you’ve added too much water.
-
Once it forms a ball, you are done. Do not knead the dough or overwork it.
-
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, up to 1 day.
To make the filling:
-
In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients. Let stand while you roll out your crust. It will become a little syrupy as the berries and sugar react.
To make the pie:
-
Roll 1/2 the crust on a marble board or cover a cutting board with plastic wrap to get a very smooth surface for rolling.
-
Transfer the crust to a pie plate, using all of your fingers to support the crust so it doesn’t rip. Some of the crust should hang over the edge.
-
Use a slotted spoon to fill the pie with the filling. If there is a lot of liquid remaining in the filling bowl after you fill your pie, just leave it behind. Too much moisture will make a soggy bottom. The filling should mound over the top of the pie plate slightly. My grandma always made her pies super mounded and sky high and everyone loved them!
-
Roll out the other half of the dough and carefully cover the pie.
-
Pinch the crusts together around the edge, using your thumb + pointer fingers to create a crimped look.
-
Poke small slits in top of crust to allow air to bubble out while cooking.
-
Brush the top of the pie with milk. This gives it a beautiful golden brown color when baked.
-
Cover top of pie with foil, set it on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees.
-
Remove foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until pie is bubbling.
-
Remove from oven and let stand as long as you can without digging in ;)